Bani Gala SHO summoned in PPP's defamation plea against Cynthia Richie.

ISLAMABAD -- The Islamabad sessions court summoned on Wednesday the station house officer (SHO) of Bani Gala in the case pertaining to defamation of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto by US blogger Cynthia Richie.

Hearing Pakistan Peoples Party's plea for registering a complaint against Cynthia, the Islamabad additional district and sessions judge Abdul Ghafoor Kakar ordered the SHO to appear before the court and explain why he had not submitted a reply earlier.

The court expressed its annoyance over the non-submission of a detailed reply by the police.

The petitioner's lawyer, Chaudhry Zahid Asif, argued that the, 'Police is deliberately not submitting a detailed reply.' He said the police is cooking up excuses to delay registering a case against Cynthia Rithchie. The hearing was adjourned till June 20.

On June 15, the Islamabad additional district and sessions judge directed the Federal Investigation Agency to conduct an inquiry against Cynthia for allegedly defaming former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on social media and if found guilty, register a first information report against her.

Judge Muhammad Jehangir Awan announced the two-page reserved verdict on Pakistan Peoples Party Islamabad President Shakeel Abbasi's petition, seeking registration of a criminal case against Cynthia for passing 'extremely derogatory and slanderous remarks about Benazir Bhutto'.

The judge wrote in the verdict...