Punjab government establishes special defamation litigation cell

LAHORE: The Punjab government has established a special defamation litigation cell to pursue defamation cases involving the provincial government, its departments, institutions and officials, ARY News reported.

A notification has been issued for the establishment of the Defamation Litigation Cell in the Office of the Advocate General Punjab to provide legal protection to the Punjab government, government departments, institutions and public officeholders.

According to the notification, the Defamation Litigation Cell will work under the supervision of the Advocate General Punjab and will include legal officers, consultants and other relevant officials.

Advocate General Punjab Zafarullah Khan issued the office order for the establishment of the cell, while copies have been sent to the Punjab chief secretary and the secretary for law and parliamentary affairs.

The Punjab government said the cell had been set up to handle and pursue legal proceedings in defamation matters involving the provincial government.

Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz sent a legal notice to Federal Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain over his corruption allegations against the Punjab government, seeking Rs5 billion in damages.

The legal notice was sent through Maryam Nawaz’s lawyer, who accused Chaudhry Salik Hussain of making baseless and misleading allegations against the Punjab government.

According to the notice, Chaudhry Salik made the remarks during an exclusive interview with ARY News, saying that he frequently heard stories of corruption in Punjab.

He also claimed that there must be cupboards full of corruption files in Punjab rather than just files.

The notice stated that Chaudhry Salik Hussain had failed to provide any evidence to support his allegations.

It further described the allegations as baseless, unverified and defamatory, adding that the interview did not identify any documented incident, investigation or formal complaint to substantiate the claims.

ARY News and its reporter Naeem Ashraf Butt have also been sent legal notices over the broadcast of the interview.