Shahbaz successful at first round in defamation case Top Story February 7, 2021 LONDON: The London High Court has ruled in favour of Shahbaz Sharif and his son-in-law in relation to the meaning of reporter David Rose’s article published on July 14, 2019 in which it was alleged that Shahbaz Sharif and his son-in-law were involved in money-laundering and embezzlement of the British money meant for Pakistan’s poor people. Justice Sir Matthew Nicklin at the London High Court ruled that Mail on Sunday’s article carried the highest level of defamatory meaning for both Shahbaz Sharif and Imran Ali Yousaf. The Daily Mail had contested that the words used in the article were not defamatory but the judge ruled that the level of defamation to Shahbaz Sharif was Chase level 1 – the highest form of defamation in English law – on all counts raised by Sharif’s lawyers in their arguments and Imran Yousaf’s defamation was Chase Level 1 in one instance and Chase Level 2 in another.