Poonch court orders FIR against news channels for calling shelling victim a ‘terrorist’

A court in the Jammu region has directed police to register a case and initiate an investigation into “defamatory/false reporting” during Operation Sindoor. This follows an incident in May where Jammu and Kashmir Police had issued a stern warning against media outlets that portrayed a cleric from Poonch, who died in Pakistan shelling, as a terrorist.

Sub-Judge/Special Mobile Magistrate, Poonch, Shafeeq Ahmed, has instructed the Poonch police to register a formal FIR and submit a compliance report within seven days.

The court’s directive came after an application filed by lawyer Sheikh Mohd Saleem, seeking the registration of an FIR against certain news anchors and editorial personnel of national news channels “for allegedly committing cognizable offences under BNS, 2023.”

Saleem contended that on May 7, during intense cross-border shelling by Pakistan in the Poonch sector, Qari Mohd Iqbal, a teacher at Jamia Zia-ul-Uloom, Poonch, was “martyred along with other civilians.” The lawyer asserted that certain national media houses, “without verification,” branded the deceased teacher as a “Pakistani terrorist” affiliated with Lashkar-e-Toiba. This, he argued, “defamed the deceased, caused distress to his family, damaged the reputation of the deceased, and hurt the religious sentiments of the community.”

The judge had sought a report from the Poonch SHO, who confirmed that Qari Mohd Iqbal died in the shelling. Police also acknowledged that news channels had initially aired information stating that the deceased Qari Mohd Iqbal was a “Pakistani terrorist.” However, the police noted that after receiving clarificatory inputs, the said channels “withdrew their earlier assertions and issued an apology.”

Lawyer Saleem argued that the “two national media platforms acted irresponsibly and portrayed the deceased as a terrorist, displaying his name as well as photograph and falsely linking him to grave terror activities including the 2019 Pulwama attack on CRPF personnel.”

The judge observed that given the digital reach of satellite media, “it is the place where defamatory content is consumed and causes reputational damage.” The court also noted that while freedom of the press is a vital part of democracy, it is subject to reasonable restrictions. In the present case, the act of branding a deceased civilian teacher of a local religious seminary as a “Pakistani terrorist” without any verification “cannot be dismissed as a mere journalistic lapse,” the court observed.

“Such a conduct amounts to public mischief and defamation, capable of causing public outrage, disturbing social harmony and tarnishing the reputation of the deceased and the institution he served,” the court stated.