The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed ARY News to apologise and pay Rs50,000 in damages to senior journalist Asma Shirazi for misreporting against her.
Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the IHC issued a verdict on Shirazi’s appeal against the December 21, 2022, verdict of the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority’s (Pemra) Council of Complaints.
“The court is of the view that editorial side and the airing committee of the licensee/respondent No.3 [the TV channel] is not vigilant enough that picture of the appellant was wrongly placed along with the news content, when she has nothing to do with that particular news item on aired by respondent No.3 […],” the verdict stated.
“The facts were deliberately concocted to make the viewers’ believe that the appellant’s journalism was criticised during the [SC] proceedings,” the journalist had contended in her appeal against the TV channel.
Shirazi said that Pemra rejected her complaint against the TV channel as non-maintainable, stating that “no legal point had been made by the complainant in the instant matter as a proper forum for defamation was available” to her.
The IHC, in its decision, said that TV channels are obligated by Pemra laws to disseminate news and reports in an accurate manner.
It is also mentioned in the decision that a senior journalist has a right to damages; however, it is not the duty of the court to determine the extent of damages when there is no information available on record.
It also stated that Shirazi still has the right to approach the competent court to seek damages under defamation law.
