LONDON: A high court judge here has struck out a libel claim brought by the UK branch of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) against multimillionaire Tory peer Rami Ranger but allowed the claim against him brought by the US SFJ’s general counsel, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun , to continue.
The£500,000 (Rs 5.8 crore) libel claimcentres on an interview Ranger, chairman of the British Sikh Association, gave “Pakistan Daily” in 2021 and a tweet in which he alleged SFJ and Pannun were funded by “the enemies of India”. Ranger is quoted in the article as saying: “They are misleading the public that there are atrocities in Punjab and Sikhs are being badly treated, and all that nonsense, in order to capture the money which is coming to gurdwaras.”
The article was published on Nov 30, 2021 with the headline “Lord Ranger questions faith, funding of Sikh separatist leader”.
Both SFJ UK and Pannun, a New-York based attorney, who India has designated as terrorist, claimed the article damaged their reputations and sought damages and an injunction. They pleaded that the meaning of the article was that they “are agents of and are funded by Pakistan and ISI and are therefore dishonest about the source of their funding”, and that Pannun “is deliberately misleading the public about the atrocities and ill-treatment suffered by Sikhs in the Punjab in order to illegitimately take money from the gurdwaras”.
Justice Jay described the case as a “storm in a teacup”. He struck out the claim by SFJ UK in its entirety, saying that the entire article was about the US-based SFJ and SFJ UK was not mentioned, even though David Lemer, representing the claimants, had sought to argue the context inferred SFJ UK.
With reference to the “enemies of India”, he said it is “well known Pakistan is the main enemy of India and vice versa” but added that “there is nothing in the article to suggest Pakistani ISI is somehow involved… or that these claimants are agents of Pakistan. To be funded by Pakistan is not defamatory.”
He refused Lemer permission to appeal and SFJ UK was ordered to pay Ranger’s legal costs/
Nayaz Qazi, who works for Ranger, told TOI outside court: “It is shocking that these frivolous allegations brought by SFJ and Pannun were used against Rami Ranger in deciding the revocation of his CBE.”
The£500,000 (Rs 5.8 crore) libel claimcentres on an interview Ranger, chairman of the British Sikh Association, gave “Pakistan Daily” in 2021 and a tweet in which he alleged SFJ and Pannun were funded by “the enemies of India”. Ranger is quoted in the article as saying: “They are misleading the public that there are atrocities in Punjab and Sikhs are being badly treated, and all that nonsense, in order to capture the money which is coming to gurdwaras.”
The article was published on Nov 30, 2021 with the headline “Lord Ranger questions faith, funding of Sikh separatist leader”.
Both SFJ UK and Pannun, a New-York based attorney, who India has designated as terrorist, claimed the article damaged their reputations and sought damages and an injunction. They pleaded that the meaning of the article was that they “are agents of and are funded by Pakistan and ISI and are therefore dishonest about the source of their funding”, and that Pannun “is deliberately misleading the public about the atrocities and ill-treatment suffered by Sikhs in the Punjab in order to illegitimately take money from the gurdwaras”.
Justice Jay described the case as a “storm in a teacup”. He struck out the claim by SFJ UK in its entirety, saying that the entire article was about the US-based SFJ and SFJ UK was not mentioned, even though David Lemer, representing the claimants, had sought to argue the context inferred SFJ UK.
With reference to the “enemies of India”, he said it is “well known Pakistan is the main enemy of India and vice versa” but added that “there is nothing in the article to suggest Pakistani ISI is somehow involved… or that these claimants are agents of Pakistan. To be funded by Pakistan is not defamatory.”
He refused Lemer permission to appeal and SFJ UK was ordered to pay Ranger’s legal costs/
Nayaz Qazi, who works for Ranger, told TOI outside court: “It is shocking that these frivolous allegations brought by SFJ and Pannun were used against Rami Ranger in deciding the revocation of his CBE.”
You may also like
'Indictment hearing against Hasina to begin from July 1'
Who is Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani? Meet Mira Nayar's son and New York's Democratic mayoral candidate
India-born B-2 engineer's espionage revisited as US targets Iran with stealth bomber
We salute every person who stood firm in fight against Emergency: PM Modi
Premanand Ji: Are you afraid of road accidents or sudden death? These remedies of Premanand Ji will become a protective shield, know here..
