LONDON: A London High Court judge has ordered YouTuber Adil Raja to publicly apologise and pay about £310,000 in damages and legal costs to Brigadier (retired) Rashid Naseer, a former Pakistan Army officer, after losing a defamation case earlier this year.
The UK court ordered Raja to publish a public apology acknowledging that the allegations he made against the retired officer were defamatory and baseless.
The apology must remain visible for 28 days on all of Raja’s social media handles, including X, Facebook, YouTube, and the main page of his website.
The judge also instructed Raja to publish a summary of the court’s ruling and confirm publicly that Brigadier (retd) Rashid Naseer won the original defamation case.
Financial penalties and injunction
Raja has been ordered to pay £50,000 in damages within 14 days, along with £260,000 in legal costs. Further court expenses will be assessed and are also to be paid by him.
The High Court also issued an injunction preventing Raja from making any further defamatory or derogatory statements about Brigadier (retired) Naseer.
The judge rejected Raja’s appeal request, leaving the original orders unchanged.
Brigadier (retired) Naseer attended the hearing in person. Raja did not attend and was not present during the latest proceedings.
Earlier defamation ruling
The latest ruling follows a previous judgment in October 2025 in which the court found that Raja had defamed the retired brigadier.
Judge Richard Spearman KC ruled that Raja’s allegations were false, unsupported by evidence, and had seriously damaged Naseer’s reputation.
The Royal Courts of Justice ordered Raja to pay £50,000 in damages and £300,000 in legal and court expenses.
The judge clarified that the dispute had no connection to Pakistan’s military or intelligence agencies and was strictly between two individuals.
‘Seriously defamatory’
Brigadier (retired) Naseer initiated the defamation claim in August 2022 over ten online posts published between 14 and 29 June 2022 on Raja’s X, YouTube, and Facebook accounts.
The court found that nine of these posts were “seriously defamatory” and caused serious harm to the retired brigadier.
Judge Spearman stated he was not convinced by Raja’s assertion that his claims originated from credible sources.
The judge said Raja provided no contemporaneous evidence and that his testimony was unreliable or exaggerated. Raja’s public interest defence therefore failed.
