Defamation Bill 2024 was approved by the Punjab Assembly on Monday, the day after a loud and forceful opposition protest.
The media outlets called the bill “draconian” in its current shape, but the Treasury benches claim it aims to stop fake news.
The proposed bill was introduced in the House by Punjab’s Minister of Finance and Parliamentary Affairs, Mujtaba Mian Shuja-ur-Rehman, disregarding the media organizations’ desire to alter it.
Media representatives met with Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari earlier in the day and asked her to postpone the contentious measure for a few days.
When the law was introduced, there was a lot of commotion and intense opposition in the House, and the media protested by abstaining from any House business.
After holding negotiations over the law, leaders of the journalistic community believed that the government had stabbed them in the back.
The leader of the opposition, Ahmed Khan Bhachar, declared that the Defamation Bill 2024 is a “black law” and that the judges on his side would not support its passage.
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