Acting Punjab governor signs Defamation Bill 2024

LAHORE: Acting Governor Punjab Malik Ahmad Khan on Saturday signed the controversial Punjab Defamation Bill 2024, which was earlier passed by the Punjab Assembly, ARY News reported.

As per details, Acting Governor Malik Ahmed Khan sent the document to Punjab Assembly after signing the bill. The defamation bill will be effective after being officially published in the government gazette.

Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan earlier hinted at not assenting the Defamation Bill 2024 and sending it back to the provincial assembly for reconsideration.

The governor had said that he would ask the Punjab government to reconsider the bill. Sardar Saleem Haider Khan said that the bill should not have been passed ‘in a hurry’.

He also said that all stakeholders including the journalist community must have been taken on board before the legislation.

However, the Defamation Bill 2024 was signed by the Acting Governor Malik Ahmed Khan when Governor Saleem Haider was on leave.

Defamation law challenged

Earlier today, the Defamation law passed by Punjab assembly to curb the spread of fake news was challenged in Lahore High Court (LHC)

As per details, the plea filed in Lahore High Court stated that the defamation law is against basic rights and the constitution.

The government is trying to silence the public through this law and the defamation law is being used to curtail freedom of expression and to avoid public criticism, the petitioner argued.

The petitioner urged the court to declare the Defamation Bill 2024 as unconstitutional and void.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Punjab Assembly on Monday passed the ‘controversial’ Defamation Bill 2024, aimed at curbing the spread of fake news across print, electronic, and social media platforms amid strong protest from the opposition.

The assembly witnessed a ruckus when Punjab’s Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman tabled the ‘controversial’ bill, while the journalists boycotted the proceedings to register their protest.

The bill addresses the pervasive issue of misinformation on social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Under the bill, defamation case can be filed on those spreading ‘fake news’.

READ: Punjab Assembly passes Defamation Bill 2024

The bill also proposes a fine of up to Rs3 million and special tribunals to hear defamation cases, which will be required to deliver verdicts within six months.

It also mentioned that in cases of allegations against individuals holding constitutional posts, the high court will hear the cases.

Journalists’ reaction

The journalist community  rejected the Defamation Bill 2024 and termed it ‘non-democratic

During the press conference, Arshad Ansari, the president of the Lahore Press Club, stated that a protest was called in the Punjab Assembly today on behalf of government members following a meeting of the Joint Action Committee regarding the Defamation Bill 2024.

Ansari recalled that a consensus failed to be reached with the government members, as they had already decided to present the Defamation Bill in the assembly today.

He added that the committee had offered to delay the protest and requested the government members to postpone the bill for a week, but this request was not accepted.

HRCP’s reaction

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed grave concern over the defamation bill 2024, with its chairman saying the content and language of the bill is “troubling on several counts”.

“First, it proposes a parallel structure to adjudicate claims of defamation. HRCP has consistently decried special parallel judicial structures on the grounds that they invariably violate fundamental rights and other universally accepted norms governing the fair functioning of the judiciary,” the statement said.