Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has served a Rs5bn defamation notice on Federal Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain, escalating a row over remarks he made about alleged corruption in Punjab in a television interview.
The notice has also been served on ARY News anchor Naeem Ashraf Butt, who conducted the interview, and on ARY Chairman Muhammad Iqbal, named for facilitating and broadcasting it. It was issued through Additional Advocate General Punjab Ch Muhammad Nawaz, according to The Nation.
The dispute centres on an interview with Salik Hussain broadcast on ARY News on November 2. The notice contends that he made sweeping claims about widespread corruption in the provincial administration without naming any department, office, official, project, transaction or inquiry, and without producing evidence.
According to the notice, the remarks created an impression among viewers that corruption was widespread across the Punjab administration. It argues that a federal minister should exercise responsibility when alleging wrongdoing against another constitutional government, and that hearsay cannot be presented as established fact.
The recipients have seven days to retract the allegations, publish an unconditional apology and clarification with equal prominence, and remove or correct the relevant interview portions. The notice also seeks Rs5bn in damages and directs them to preserve the original interview and related records.
If those demands are not met within seven days, the notice warns, the chief minister will start legal proceedings, including under the Punjab Defamation Act, 2024. A legal notice is an allegation and a demand, not a court finding, and no court has yet ruled on the claims either way.
Maryam Nawaz announced on Tuesday, at a scholarship distribution ceremony at COMSATS University in Attock, that she was sending the notice, challenging the minister to produce evidence. She said Punjab officer appointments were made on merit, not on recommendations.
Salik Hussain, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, has stood by his allegations, according to Tribune. He has rejected the suggestion that his remarks were prompted by a deputy commissioner appointment on merit, maintaining the interview had been recorded three weeks earlier.
