Pakistan provincial chief serves massive defamation notice on journalist

Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Ali Amin Gandapur, has served a legal notice worth PKR 1 billion (around USD 3.6 million) on a journalist, alleging that questions raised during a press briefing in Islamabad were asked with “malafide intent.”

According to the notice sent to Islamabad-based journalist Abdullah Mohmand, the queries posed during the press talk constituted defamation under Pakistan’s Defamation Ordinance, 2002 and amounted to professional misconduct.

It argued that the questions had damaged Gandapur’s reputation, caused him mental distress, and lowered his standing among relatives, colleagues, and the public. The remarks were described as derogatory and intended to harm both the chief minister and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The notice further claimed that the questions amounted to “innuendo,” defaming both Gandapur and his government by implying that the chief minister’s brother, Faisal Amin Gandapur, was misusing his powers to run provincial affairs. It added that “the allegation was not only defamatory but also fell within the scope of criminal law.”

Mohmand has been asked to issue an unconditional apology within seven days or face civil and criminal proceedings, including a PKR 1 billion damages suit.

The episode occurs in the wake of a September 2 press briefing in Islamabad, where Mohmand questioned Gandapur about who was effectively running the KP government. He also asked why senior PTI leaders Taimur Jhagra and Kamran Bangash had not been inducted into the provincial cabinet despite instructions from party patron-in-chief Imran Khan, and whether Faisal Amin Gandapur was managing provincial affairs.

Speaking to Nukta, Mohmand said there was “no precedent” for serving a journalist with a legal notice simply for asking questions. “If you do not like the questions, don’t answer, but this notice is just a tactic to pressurize,” he argued.

He further claimed that during the same press talk, Gandapur accused him of involvement in transfers and postings in exchange for money. “For those baseless allegations, I will file a defamation suit next week, as I have already served him with a notice,” Mohmand said, adding that Gandapur had failed to respond and had instead retaliated with a counterclaim. “They can’t stop me from asking questions through such means,” he asserted.

Kashif Uddin Syed, president of the Khyber Union of Journalists, condemned the notice, saying PTI’s leadership was increasingly reluctant to face media scrutiny. “When they do not have answers to questions, they suppress journalists this way,” he said.

He added that this was not an isolated incident, pointing out that another journalist in Peshawar was recently served a notice for broadcasting a critical news story about the KP government, while journalist Tayyab Baloch was beaten after asking questions related to former prime minister Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan.

Calling such actions a violation of press freedom, Syed alleged that the PTI was seeking to control the media by restricting questions to favorable ones. “We will resist such behavior by the PTI leadership,” he warned.