ISLAMABAD: An affidavit submitted by Prime Minister Imran Khan has termed the allegations regarding the funding of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT) “false and defamatory”, saying decisions on the hospital’s investment schemes were made by the expert committee without his interference.
The prime minister on Friday appeared before a district and sessions court via video link from his office to record a statement in a defamation suit worth Rs10 billion filed against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Khawaja Asif.
Senior PML-N leader Khawaja Asif had hurled allegations of misappropriation and money-laundering in the funds of SKMT during a press conference held on August 1, 2012, at Punjab House and later repeated the “fabricated statement” the same evening during a private television programme.
“My life from a very early age has been an open book,” PM Imran stated in the affidavit. “The people of Pakistan have loved and admired me as a human being and have believed in my financial integrity despite whatever personal vilification regarding my early life as an international sporting superstar I have faced,” he added.
The prime minister informed the court that Asif’s statements were “false and were made and published to injure my reputation”, adding that the statements subjected him to unjust criticism.
The affidavit stated that PM Imran Khan was the “biggest individual donor of SKMT from 1991 to 2009” and the investments — as opposed to the allegations — were fully recovered by the trust without any loss. It was stated that “fabricated and baseless allegations” were used to undermine the confidence of people in the SKMT.
PM Imran Khan, in his comment during the online-court hearing, said that the Shaukat Khanum Trust was the only free of charge hospital for the treatment of cancer in the world.
“It is unfortunate to level baseless and fabricated allegations against a welfare body,” he said, expressing confidence that the court would pass an “exemplary verdict on the baseless case and set a precedent.”
