The London High Court has ruled against Pakistani YouTuber Adil Raja in the defamation case filed by Brigadier (r) Rashid Naseer, ordering the self-proclaimed analyst to pay damages and legal costs amounting to approximately Rs130 million.
According to reports, UK High Court’s Judge Richard Spearman said that Raja had defamed Brig (r) Rashid Naseer by making false and damaging allegations. He ruled that the publications had harmed the former military officer’s reputation, and that Raja failed to substantiate his claims in court.
The court subsequently directed the YouTuber to pay £50,000 in damages and nearly £300,000 in legal expenses. It also mandated that Raja publicly acknowledged the verdict across all his social media platforms, confirming that Brig (r) Naseer had won the case.
The lawsuit stemmed from nine media items that Brig (r) Naseer deemed defamatory. In earlier proceedings, the court had already ruled that Raja’s social media statements lacked a factual basis.
The judge found that Raja had made the remarks “as matters of fact, not opinion”, and had failed to provide any credible evidence to support them. Raja’s attempts to halt the trial and his claims that Pakistan’s judiciary and intelligence agencies controlled the proceedings were also dismissed by the court.
The verdict marks the latest development in a long-running legal and reputational battle for Raja, who has previously faced reports of arrest in London for inciting hatred against state institutions and property seizure orders by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad for provoking violence through online content.
Brig (r) Naseer was represented by Barrister David Lemer of Doughty Street Chambers and Ushrat Sultana and Sadia Qureshi of Stone White Solicitors. Raja, on the other hand, was represented by Barrister Simon Harding.