The case is a small cog in the winding fortunes and tussles of former high ups of the Abu Dhabi group.
LAHORE: The hearing of a defamation suit filed by former Abu Dhabi group boss Adeel Bajwa saw the defendant, Zubair Kasuri, failing to appear at the Lahore District Court.
Adeel Bajwa, the former head of the Abu Dhabi group and a big name in Pakistan’s telecommunication sector, had filed the defamation suit against Kasuri after a series of articles appeared in Mr Kasuri’s publication under his by-line. The articles were published soon after Adeel Bajwa’s role at the Abu Dhabi group came to an end, and alleged that Sheikh Al Nahayyan had fired him for corruption and financial embezzlement.
Adeel Bajwa has claimed that the articles being published were intended to damage his name and reputation, particularly within the telecom sector in Pakistan, and sully his reputation as the former head of Warid Telecom, and the architect of the merger between Warid and Mobilink Pakistan. Bajwa also believes that the articles might have been paid for by people wanting to hurt him.
The lawsuit was filed after Mr Kasuri failed to respond to a notice under Section 8 of the Defamation Ordinance 2002 of Pakistan. The lawsuit seeks millions in damages, and asks the court to require the defendant to publish a retraction of the defamatory allegations in print and online mediums and to render an unconditional apology to Adeel Bajwa.
Bajwa is also involved in a messy legal battle with Bashir Tahir, his predecessor as the head of the Abu Dhabi group, with the two embroiled in a tussle over property left in the country by the group’s owner, Shiekh Al Nahayan.
Adeel Bajwa you can’t hide your dark past and shameless deeds. You bit the hand that fed you and now you want people to look away? That Sheikh took a nobody sad loser like you to new heights but you will stay a gutter insect so back you go in your dirty hole. The article brought smiles on every face that has known you and this is karma!