Join our Whatsapp channel

       MUZAFFARABAD: In a defamation ruling with political reverberations in both the UK and Pakistan, the High Court of England and Wales ordered a prominent UK-based YouTuber of Kashmiri origin to pay over ￡260,000 in damages to two elected representatives from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) over “serious, unfounded and harmful allegations” against them.

       The trial, held from July 7 to 9, resulted in the judgment by Justice Heather Williams DBE, who convicted Abrar Qureshi of libel over two defamatory videos of his popular ‘Gorakh Dhanda’ programme published online on November 1, 2021 via different social media platforms.

       PPP regional president and MLA Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin and his son Chaudhry Amar Yasin, an AJK cabinet member, had brought the case in the King’s Bench Division of the High Court, citing severe harm to their political and personal reputations.

       The videos featured Mr Qureshi’s interview with Chaudhry Muhammad Sabeel, a former employee of the elder Yasin, who levelled accusations of criminal misconduct, including blackmail, sexual abuse, torture, corruption, and abuse of public office.

       Abrar Qureshi ordered not to publish defamatory videos again, share court order on his social media accounts

       The court concluded that Mr Qureshi had made no reasonable attempt to verify the allegations before broadcasting them to a large audience.

       In her 62-page ruling, a copy of which was seen by Dawn, Justice Williams noted that Mr Qureshi had abandoned his defences of truth and honest opinion on the first day of trial, leaving him unable to justify the defamatory publications under public interest protections

       She found that Mr Qureshi had “fallen well short of the standards expected of a responsible journalist,” particularly given the size and influence of his platform, which includes over 190,000 YouTube subscribers and 700,000 Facebook followers.

       The judge said his failure to present Yasin family’s version of events or conduct basic checks made the publication grossly irresponsible.

       The judge observed that the allegations had caused “serious harm” to the claimants’ personal and professional standing, especially considering their public roles within Pakistan and the Kashmiri diaspora in the UK. The tone of authority, repetition, and lack of challenge in the videos had led many viewers to believe the accusations were true, she added.

       While acknowledging that the claimants may have overstated the extent of reputational harm during parts of their testimony, the court was satisfied that the legal threshold of serious harm had been crossed by a wide margin.

       “As a remedy, each claimant was awarded ￡130,000 in libel damages, including aggravated damages to reflect the distress and reputational damage caused. Additionally, the defendant was ordered to pay interest of ￡21,829 to each claimant and an interim payment of ￡65,000 towards legal costs by August 8.”

       The court issued a permanent injunction restraining Mr Qureshi from republishing the defamatory material or anything similar and directed him to post a court-approved summary of the judgment across all his social media platforms within seven days, as per Section 12 of the UK Defamation Act 2013.

       Legal experts say the ruling underscored the limits of free expression on digital platforms, particularly where reputations are damaged in foreign nations. It also highlighted the strength of UK libel law, even in a cross-jurisdictional and digital media context.

       Speaking briefly in Muzaffarabad after the verdict, Mr Yasin said: “We welcome the judgment as a vindication of truth and accountability.”

       Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2025