New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS): Retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, a former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member, has insisted that his statement about Prime Minister Imran Khan's political aides paying for his household expenses was based on "truth", saying if anyone wanted to file a defamation suit against him, "they must do so as the courts are open", Dawn new reported.

He made these remarks while addressing reporters at the Muttahida Qaumi Movement's (MQM) office in Karachi's Bahadurabad, where he had gone to meet the party's representatives for an unspecified reason.

Ahmed, while speaking on a programme had claimed that the now-estranged PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen used to provide funds of up to 5 million (PKR) per month for Khan's household expenses, but offered no proof for the same.

"This belief is entirely false that Imran Khan is a (financially) honest man," Ahmed said. "His condition is such that he hasn't been running his household himself for years."

Ahmed's statement was denied by Tareen, who tweeted that he "never gave a penny for the household expenses of Banigala" — the palatial hilltop residence of the Prime Minister.

When questioned about Tareen's denial of his claim, Ahmed said the sugar baron had no other option except to refuse to admit the "fact".

"These expenses are out of the books and are not accounted for. Hence it was easy for him to deny it," he claimed.

Ahmed, who was flanked by MQM's Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, the former IT minister whose party is a crucial ally of the ruling PTI, was asked by reporters about the government's decision to pursue legal proceedings against him for his statement.

Unfazed, Ahmed replied that anyone could exercise their right to file a defamation suit, the report said.

Pausing as the call to prayer began during his media talk, Ahmed remarked that the "Azaan is a testimony that an honest man is speaking".