PPP regional president, son win libel case in UK; defendant to pay £260,000 in damages

Ch Yasin (extreme r) and son (left) with in UK

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

The trial, heard from July 7 to 9, 2025, resulted in a damning judgment by Mrs Justice Heather Williams DBE, who held Abrar Qureshi liable for libel over two defamatory videos of his popular ‘Gorakh Dhanda’ programme published online on November 1, 2021 via different social media platforms. 

Pakistan People’s Party (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 grave accusations of criminal misconduct, including blackmail, sexual abuse, torture, corruption, and abuse of public office. 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 this scribe, 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. His failure to present the claimants’ version of events or conduct basic checks, the court held, 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.

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

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

In a statement, Mr Yasin welcomed the judgment as “a vindication of truth and accountability.”

 “This was not a victory by chance, but the result of sincere intentions, perseverance, and faith in justice. We refused to compromise on dignity and self-respect, choosing principle over convenience at every turn,” he said. 

“This verdict is a testament to belief, integrity, and the unwavering resolve to stand for what is right.”

Tariq Naqash