Mandviwalla irked by defamation notice

Updated 18 Nov, 2019

Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwalla Friday has appealed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to constitute a joint investigation team (JIT) to investigate what he says former ambassador of Pakistan to US Ali Siddiqui's purported assets, businesses and stakes and investment in Air Blue.
Speaking at a presser here, he blasted former ambassador Ali Jahangir Siddiqui for serving him with a defamation suit, saying it is a wilful attempt to pressure parliamentarians to stay quiet and not speak the truth about the reality of their "sham deal."
He said that a defamation case was filed against him back in 2017 by a company namely SPM (Pvt) Ltd and their authorised officer is Muhammad Amir Shaifq son of Safiqullah.
"The case is based on my tweet tweeted in 2017 in which I mentioned appointment of Ali Siddiqui son of Jahangir Siddiqui as advisor to [the then] prime minister after their investment of $20 million in Air Blue," he added.
Mandviwalla claimed that a few months back, JS and Company sent some people to him with a message to withdraw his tweet and apologise but he asked to deny the fact if JS and Air Blue were partners, which left them 'speechless'.
He also claimed that JS was the business partner of Air Blue and is still a partner of Air Blue and he will also prove this in a court of law, adding such attempts can't pressurise him or his party and he would stand by his earlier statement.
"By sending defamation notice to me, Ali Siddiqui has attempted to scar my flawless political reputation as a patriotic Pakistani. I also have the right to initiate legal proceedings against Ali Siddiqui which my legal counsel is looking into," he warned.

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