Brigadier (Retd) Rashid Naseer Attends UK High Court in Defamation Case

Brigadier (Retd) Rashid Naseer was physically present at the UK High Court on Wednesday for his defamation lawsuit against YouTuber Major (Retd) Adil Raja.

A half-day session was conducted before Master Davison to address three applications in anticipation of the complete trial scheduled for July.

The court reiterated its order for Raja to cover Naseer’s legal expenses. He was directed to pay £6,100 in legal costs, adding to the £23,000 he had previously paid to Naseer’s legal team.

The court was presented with three applications for consideration.

The initial application was submitted by Raja, seeking permission for himself and his witnesses—Shaheen Sehbai, Colonel (Retired) Akbar Hussain, and Mirza Shahzad Akbar—to participate in the trial remotely.

The judge declined to consider this application, stating that the trial judge should address it during the pre-trial review hearing.

The second application involved Raja’s request for anonymity for a purported anonymous witness, allegedly a member of the army, who was unwilling to testify for him.

Raja sought to have Naseer bear the costs associated with this application. However, the judge deferred the decision on costs until the conclusion of the case.

The third application, brought by Naseer, sought a debarring order due to Raja’s failure to pay previously ordered costs (totaling £23,000, which Raja settled within a few months of the application).

The judge sided with Naseer’s legal representatives and mandated that Raja pay £6,100 to Naseer within a fortnight.

Raja issued a statement asserting that he had prevailed in the primary application during the hearing.

He stated: “I also succeeded in the anonymous witness withdrawal. I am pleased to announce that during today’s hearing at the Royal Court of Justice in London, the judge ruled in favour of my application for allowing my witnesses to attend the trial remotely in the case brought against me by the claimant.”