In response to the announcement of the defamation suit, Justice (Retd) Wajihuddin said that what he said was true. If anyone wants to file a defamation suit, do so.
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| Defamation cases in Pakistan do not reach a logical conclusion in the long run: Fawad Chaudhry (Screen Grab PTV) |
The government on Thursday issued an unsubstantiated report on former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed’s allegations against Prime Minister Imran Khan about receiving house expenses from his old colleague Jahangir Tareen without confirmation. It has been decided to issue notices to media houses.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain while talking to media persons on Thursday evening said that the federal government has decided to file a criminal case against Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed for defamation.
Chaudhry Fawad said: “The prime minister is a constitutional body and there are campaigns in Pakistan to discredit the institutions and their leaders which could be a threat to the security of the country.”
He said that some TV channels had formed and run campaigns based on Wajihuddin Ahmed’s statement which was aimed at making allegations against the Prime Minister’s office and his caste.
Speaking on a program on private TV channel Bol News, Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed had alleged that former PTI leader Jahangir Khan had paid Rs 50 per month for the expenses of Imran Khan’s private residence in Tareen Bani Gala. They used to pay Rs.
Former Supreme Court of Pakistan Judge Wajihuddin Ahmed, who withdrew from the PTI five years ago due to differences with Imran Khan, said that initially, Bani Gala’s monthly expenditure was Rs 3 million, which was later increased. Jahangir Tareen increased.
However, Jahangir Khan Tareen had denied the allegations the very next day, saying that he had never paid a single penny for the expenses of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s residence in Bani Gala. The angry PTI leader said in a message on Twitter on Wednesday: I never paid for it. ‘
Following the allegation of Justice (Retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed on Tuesday evening, several private TV channels of Pakistan made talk shows while YouTubers also talked about it.
Some journalists and talk show hosts tried to find out Jahangir Khan Tareen’s position in this regard but to no avail. Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that TV channels programmed on one-sided allegations without talking to Jahangir Khan and dismissed them without any reason.
If they had talked to Jahangir Tareen before the news broke and even denied the allegations, the matter would have been balanced but it was not done.
According to Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry, the former Supreme Court judge made accusations against the Prime Minister for gaining cheap fame, which is reprehensible.
He said that the federal government has decided to file a criminal defamation suit against Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed in court. He further said that the media in the world pays fines for making such baseless allegations against anyone and Pakistani TV channels have also faced such a situation.
He lamented that defamation cases in Pakistan could not reach a logical conclusion in the long run. The Federal Minister further said that an appeal would be made to the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Chief Justices of the High Courts to expedite the disposal of defamation cases at all levels on a priority basis.
Fawad Chaudhry praised Jahangir Khan Tareen and said that he was a respectable and decent man and denied the baseless allegations. He added that the government would like to have two-member benches at the High Court level to hear purely defamation cases.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that the federal government has decided to give notice to the private TV channels broadcasting the statement of Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed.
It should be noted that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) may send notices to private TV channels in case of violation of the Code of Conduct, which may result in fines and penalties for the channels or the closure of the entire transmission. ۔
Expert opinion
Mazhar Abbas, former general secretary of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), an organization representing working journalists in Pakistan, said it would be inappropriate for the government to send notices to TV channels.
Talking to Independent Urdu, he said that the TV channels mentioned what Justice (R) Wajihuddin had said or conveyed it to the public by getting analysis and opinion from someone. “How can this be wrong or against the code of conduct?”
Responding to a question, Mazhar Abbas said that journalists could have taken a stand on the allegations of Justice Wajihuddin from Jahangir Tareen but if no one did, it could not be the reason for the notice.
The PFUJ leader said that the government has to file a case against Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed because he has made the allegations and not any journalist or TV channel.
Mazhar Abbas added that the government should improve the 2002 Defamation Act so that cases could be decided as soon as possible and the culprits could be punished.
He said that instead of appealing to the Supreme Court or the High Courts, the federal government could increase the sentence in the relevant law and fix a time limit for adjudication of cases which would enable speedy disposal of cases.
Wajihuddin insists on his allegations
Justice (Retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed visited Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) headquarters Nine Zero in Karachi this evening and spoke to the media after meeting Maqbool Siddiqui.
In response to a question about the filing of a defamation suit against him, he said, “I will talk superficially about what I did not want to do. What I have said is true, there is nothing else in it. If someone wants to file a defamation suit, they must do so.
He said that the question is if the rights have been violated then, Fawad Chaudhry or Imran Khan? If a lawsuit is to be filed, then the right must be violated, but the one whose rights have been violated must do so.
He said that there was talk of Jahangir Tareen Sahib but he denied it. So what do they say? Did they say yes I have been spending? Such expenses are out of the box and are not accounted for. It was easy to deny them.
Referring to Jahangir Tareen’s tweet, Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed said: Have a bad relationship with Imran Khan? Who benefited from the Chinese crisis? If I have earned billions of rupees from the Chinese crisis, then I don’t want to talk about it.
