Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry Thursday said the government had decided to file a defamation suit against Justice (retired) Wajihuddin Ahmed for his baseless claim about expenditures of Bani Gala residence of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said Article 9 of the Constitution gave the right of self-respect and dignity to every citizen but in Pakistan this right was blatantly violated in both traditional and social media.
He said notices would also be issued to the media houses which had telecast the baseless allegations of Justice Wajihuddin without verification.
“Dignity and honour of the prime minister of Pakistan is not safe what to speak of the common man,” he said, adding a baseless propaganda was spread about the prime minister’s family life and Bani Gala house. Fawad said the person who was favored by the prime minister and nominated as a presidential candidate attacked the prime minister claiming that Jehangir Tareen bore the expenditure of Imran’s residence. He said Jahangir Tareen had proved to be a gentleman as he had already denied the allegations of Justice Wajihuddin.
The process of character-assassination of the people should stop and Article 9 of the Constitution must be implemented, the minister demanded. He said the PM never burdened the national exchequer and saved the wealth of the nation.
He said campaigns were launched against the national institutions by certain media houses to weaken the system. He said no one was punished by the judiciary for involvement in character-assassination of known personalities. He said the way the personality of the PM was targeted was highly condemnable.
He said the PM had donated the plots allotted to him by the government after winning 1992 World Cup to Shaukat Khanam Trust. The minister appealed to the chief justices of the Supreme Court and high courts to play their role in protecting the dignity and honour of the national institutions.
He called for constitution of division benches for proceedings on defamation cases.
Fawad said the government had planned Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PMDA) to ensure freedom of expression with responsibility. He said a new draft had been prepared as per recommendations of the media bodies.
The minister said the government wanted finalization of the PDMA act so that the character-assassination of famous people should stop. He said the government was trying to implement defamation-related laws already implemented in many countries. Meanwhile, Fawad said if Prime Minister Imran Khan had given any value to money, he would have been a “billionaire” after his divorce with Jemima Goldsmith in Britain, where courts see marriage as a partnership and demand assets of that partnership be shared equally. In another statement, Fawad said despite the passage of seven years, the nation could not forget the tragedy of Army Public School. He said cowardly miscreants attacked the future of the nation, unarmed minors and martyred them. The minister said no one could hold back their tears by remembering this day. The martyrs of APS tragedy united the whole nation against terrorism, he said.
