Punjab Brutal Law for Defamation
Initally act was to sanction fake news; it will severely stifle ALL speech (whether by design or poor drafting/lack of understanding of defamation laws) & will inevitably be abused. It is unconstitutional.
A) Act creates special tribunal to trial civil defamation claims. Tribunal manned by judges appointed by govt (albeit in consultation with CJ) but they lack security of tenure & can be removed by govt at any time without need to prove misconduct. This infringes constitutional guarantee of independent judiciary.
B) Act not confined to electronic or social or even print media. Applies to all forms of spoken words, written words & visual images spoken published by anyone ie journalists, private citizens, politicians.
C) Tribunal has vast extra-territorial (unconstitutional) reach. Law applies not only to stuff published in Punjab but anything viewed/read there (even via 3rd parties) & also if it happens elsewhere but allegedly defames anyone who is permanently or temporarily in Punjab.
D) MINIMUM damages under the Act is 30 lacs. Also, Act does not allow you to defend claim as of right but forces you to obtain leave from the Court to be allowed to defend yourself. And if you don’t get permission, you’ll have to deposit 30 lacs before you can even appeal!
So if you make speech in Sindh thats forwarded to Punjab (or concerns anyone in Punjab) you can be sued there. And if for any reason you didn’t get summons or are refused leave, automatic decree follows & u have to deposit 30 lacs before appealing or seeking to set aside decree
E) Proceedings before the govt appointed judges in the tribunal are secret. No one can publish ANY statement about proceedings pending before the tribunal for any reason (with no exception even for accurate reporting or fair comment)! Say goodbye to a fair trial!
F) The claimant doesn’t need to prove his reputation or any loss to it at all (unless he wants special damages over and above the 30 lacs).
Any statement that lowers him “in the estimation of others” or exposes him to “unjust criticism” is enough. Indeed, “constitutional office holders” like PMs, CMs, Service Chiefs, Judges dont even need to appear before tribunal at all to prefer a claim & will not be subject to any cross examination at all. Can all be done through an officer of their dept.
G) Apart from granting damages, Tribunal can direct platform/medium on which defamation occurred to be shut down. Does not merely mean a FB or YouTube account. Could be a newspaper or TV channel too!
There is a need to seriously think about abuse of free speech on social media.
Pakistan is going for a very hard and dark time for human rights.
Here’s what’s wrong:
A) Act creates special tribunal to trial civil defamation claims. Tribunal manned by judges appointed by govt (albeit in consultation with CJ) but they lack security of tenure & can be removed by govt at any time without need to prove misconduct. This infringes constitutional guarantee of independent judiciary.
B) Act not confined to electronic or social or even print media. Applies to all forms of spoken words, written words & visual images spoken published by anyone ie journalists, private citizens, politicians.
C) Tribunal has vast extra-territorial (unconstitutional) reach. Law applies not only to stuff published in Punjab but anything viewed/read there (even via 3rd parties) & also if it happens elsewhere but allegedly defames anyone who is permanently or temporarily in Punjab.
D) MINIMUM damages under the Act is 30 lacs. Also, Act does not allow you to defend claim as of right but forces you to obtain leave from the Court to be allowed to defend yourself. And if you don’t get permission, you’ll have to deposit 30 lacs before you can even appeal!
So if you make speech in Sindh thats forwarded to Punjab (or concerns anyone in Punjab) you can be sued there. And if for any reason you didn’t get summons or are refused leave, automatic decree follows & u have to deposit 30 lacs before appealing or seeking to set aside decree
E) Proceedings before the govt appointed judges in the tribunal are secret. No one can publish ANY statement about proceedings pending before the tribunal for any reason (with no exception even for accurate reporting or fair comment)! Say goodbye to a fair trial!
F) The claimant doesn’t need to prove his reputation or any loss to it at all (unless he wants special damages over and above the 30 lacs).
Any statement that lowers him “in the estimation of others” or exposes him to “unjust criticism” is enough. Indeed, “constitutional office holders” like PMs, CMs, Service Chiefs, Judges dont even need to appear before tribunal at all to prefer a claim & will not be subject to any cross examination at all. Can all be done through an officer of their dept.
G) Apart from granting damages, Tribunal can direct platform/medium on which defamation occurred to be shut down. Does not merely mean a FB or YouTube account. Could be a newspaper or TV channel too!
There is a need to seriously think about abuse of free speech on social media.
Pakistan is going for a very hard and dark time for human rights.