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The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Wednesday refused to accept a verbal apology from News One Anchorperson Dr Shahid Masood for his startling allegations against the convicted rapist and murderer of six-year-old Zainab in Kasur.
The anchorperson had claimed during a late night show in January that convict Imran Ali was a member of a pornography gang which also includes a Punjab minister. During earlier hearings of the case, Masood had also told the court that the suspect has 37 foreign accounts.
The court today told Dr Masood that it was too late now to apologise after a joint investigation team (JIT) probing his allegations revealed last week that all 18 of the claims made by the anchorperson were false and baseless, and that there was no evidence for any of the allegations made by him.
"In your programme you said that you should be hanged if your allegations are proven incorrect," Justice Nisar reminded the anchorperson.
Dr Masood's counsel said that his client was prepared to do whatever the court asked of him. Following this, the anchorperson verbally apologised twice, but the court refused to accept his apologies.
"Some people had suggested you should apologise in [an earlier hearing in] Lahore," the CJP said. "The time for an apology has now passed," Justice Nisar said, adding that Dr Masood could continue contesting the case if he wished.
The CJP said that justice would be served in the case, and sought a reply from TV channel News One, adjourning the case until March 12.
Imran Ali, who was convicted in the rape and murder of Zainab Amin by an Anti-terrorism Court in February had appealed to the Lahore High Court against the verdict that handed him death penalty on four counts, pleading not guilty to the offences.
Earlier this week, Imran Ali was formally nominated in the rape and murder cases of seven other children in Kasur, after an earlier DNA test of the suspect revealed his DNA was a match with samples recovered from the crime scenes in the seven cases prior to Zainab's.
The investigation officer probing the cases had told the ATC that the suspect kidnapped, raped and killed a total of eight girls over the last year or so.
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Mar 07, 2018 12:22pm
well if its too late then the CJP should pass a verdict against mariam nawaz, nawaz sharif and all his puppets asap... long live pakistan and along live CJP... he is a man with determination !!!
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Mar 07, 2018 12:23pm
chalo he is out
will be banned from media for 1 yr or so
and maybe few months in jail
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Mar 07, 2018 12:28pm
Very good move by the Honourable CJP. Anchors are looking for cheap publicity & fame. Making fun of people sentiments.
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Mar 07, 2018 12:31pm
Should be punished as he is miss using the media to create unnecessary hype in the society
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Mar 07, 2018 12:31pm
A proper leash to media anchors is very much required and he should go through due course for his irresponsible reporting on TV.
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Mar 07, 2018 12:32pm
We can only hope that Supreme Court will punish this man and set an example for others to be cautious in stating what they say on television. The best punishment, in my opinion, should be his appearing on the TV show and publicly admit and apologize for his wrongdoing as well as the lifetime ban on his appearance on TV channel.
Barring few anchorpersons, who have the true journalistic background, most are clowns who do every possible unethical gimmick and sensational reporting to get maximum TRP.
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Mar 07, 2018 12:35pm
is it logical to infer that most of his previous stories were also baseless? He has been misguiding the people for quite sometimes.
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Mar 07, 2018 12:35pm
Integrity of character is to tell the truth even if it is bitter...
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Mar 07, 2018 12:35pm
Erratic, conspiracy riddled and false emotion arousing journalism should be punished to stem it out.
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Mar 07, 2018 12:36pm
Dr Shahid's colleague and another one of his type journalist Asad Kharal had gone miles ahead and stretched Dr Shahid Masood's story even further and claimed that Imran Ali had 200 bank accounts plus various other things.
It will be in line if court also summons him and make an example out of them for the rest to follow
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Mar 07, 2018 12:37pm
One Republic: It's too late to apologize...
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Mar 07, 2018 12:41pm
An apology has three steps: I am sorry. It was my fault. How can I fix it? and this has been a rare thing in the history of Pakistan media.
I think he should be banned and trialed for his misleading accusations and also his other claims should be trialed.
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Mar 07, 2018 12:41pm
I think Dr.masood was trying to exposé such mafia he did his best and I salute to his courages , let him go home
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Mar 07, 2018 12:42pm
Should Set a good example for Journalist/Media Person, Army and Judiciary too... We need accountability across the board...
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Mar 07, 2018 12:48pm
Irrespective of the fact that the false-proven allegations were against someone who is worse then any possible beast that can ever exist on the face of earth, such baseless allegations should be dealt strictly and an example must be set in this regard for everyone especially for our unharnessed media industry !!!!
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Mar 07, 2018 12:54pm
Shahid Masood's punishment should be an 'example' to other TV (fake-) hosts.
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Mar 07, 2018 12:55pm
Shameful really.
There must definitely be some punishment, even token to make a precedence, not only here, but for all false charges, including the life-threatening 'blasphemy'.
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Mar 07, 2018 12:56pm
He missed a golden opportunity to apologise and now justice must be served. People like Hamid Mir tried their best to extract an apology from him but to no avail. The Channel must also suffer the consequences of his actions.
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Mar 07, 2018 12:57pm
He should be banned from all sorts of journalism
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Mar 07, 2018 01:06pm
He should be jailed and fined so a lesson is taught to all media anchors that they can’t broadcast un verified lies on national television.
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Mar 07, 2018 01:08pm
He should be barred from hosting any tv show for 5 years at least
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Mar 07, 2018 01:14pm
I appeal the respected court to please release him. If they treat all talk show people with seriousness,most of them will be behind bars. The famous Pak soaps have given way to this new form of entertainment where all these suited and booted *experts* share their opinions as facts and pull and stretch any argument beyond imagination. It is only entertainment, please don't take them seriously.
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Mar 07, 2018 01:17pm
Justice has to be done. We have to draw a line. Journalists if wrong must be punished.
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Mar 07, 2018 01:18pm
Please, punish him as he had suggested, this would be the best service rendered by our Dr. Sahab. It would be a reminder and warning to his colleagues in this business to refrain from making false claims and sensationalism.
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Mar 07, 2018 01:18pm
Put him behind bars.
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Mar 07, 2018 01:19pm
Why is he not banned?
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Mar 07, 2018 01:22pm
So what now, Shahid Masood?
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Mar 07, 2018 01:24pm
shut him down. NOW
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Mar 07, 2018 01:27pm
We have turned into a nation of third rate comedians, jumping to conclusions just for the sake of popularity. The good doctor should have been a bit intelligent.
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Mar 07, 2018 01:31pm
Shahid Massod should be awarded exemplary punishment so that it acts as a deterrence to all other anchorpersons in Pakistan. Just to sensationalize their shows they defame any person. Just imagine if it was you or your family member being accused by him for molesting children. Baseless accusations can devastate peoples life and livelihood.
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Mar 07, 2018 01:32pm
action against the Anchorperson to be initiated by honorable supreme court as per law.
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Mar 07, 2018 01:35pm
As punishment for his irresponsible statement; I request honorable SC to require Dr. Shahid Masood to complete his sentences during his program.
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Mar 07, 2018 01:39pm
What a cheap stunt to gain popularity...dr sb...Yes, a person can accept your apology and forgive you for what you’ve said, but they will never forget how you made them feel at that very moment. Words can stick in a person’s mind, heart, and spirit long after the words have been spoken. Don’t be in denial; words have GREAT power. Be wise when you speak and when u make the claims with out any proof ..
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Mar 07, 2018 01:39pm
Oh dear...
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Mar 07, 2018 01:47pm
He should be severely punished and banned from TV for life for such irresponsible journalism
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Mar 07, 2018 01:55pm
People like Shahid Masood are acting like a mafia, and he is so biased to any anti Imran Khan force that he can launch even such unfounded claims. Exemplary punishment should be given , you can not make him learn unless people like shahid masood and Amir liaquat to pay heavy fine and ban them for at least an year.
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Mar 07, 2018 02:03pm
Dr Shahid Massod should be taken to task for violating journalism ethics. This should be a lesson to the whole media airing fake news for rating purpose no matter how damaging the corrupt practice might be.
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Mar 07, 2018 02:05pm
He must be given an exemplary punishment,so Electronic media and others should learn lesson and they must think 100 times what to say and how to behave when making statements.
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Mar 07, 2018 02:12pm
This anchor-cum-journalist should be banned for significant period of time and all anchors must be restricted not to sensitize news.
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Mar 07, 2018 02:13pm
Well done SC!
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Mar 07, 2018 02:33pm
SC you are going great. Kudos.
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Mar 07, 2018 02:41pm
Waste of people’s time!
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Mar 07, 2018 02:43pm
Justice must prevail and seen to be same for all, no matter who they are and what is there social or political status! Let's see how this case progress in the next few days!
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Mar 07, 2018 03:21pm
Great move by CJP. If you spread misinformation then you should be ready to serve the consequences.
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Mar 07, 2018 03:29pm
Anchorpersons of different channels are putting baseless allegations without or false proofs to their opponents. Its very important to put a serious check on such culprits. I wish this person must be put to an exemplary justice.
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Mar 07, 2018 03:40pm
Well done supreme Court of Pakistan,long live saqib nisaar, my hero chief justice of Pakistan, well done baab.
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Mar 07, 2018 03:46pm
SC should not hesitate in giving him exemplary punishment. So that no other anchorperson will ever dare to sensationalize a tragedy by airing fake news info without any evidence. These people have escaped without being accountable for very long time.
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Mar 07, 2018 03:49pm
Sir it’s never too late to apologise.
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Mar 07, 2018 04:01pm
He is a nice person. The court may just give him warning to be careful in future.
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Mar 07, 2018 04:17pm
Waiting for “ unimaginable “ consequences.
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Mar 07, 2018 04:27pm
MR. Masood must be made an example for his transgression. He has to be punished severely to deter future would be spreaders of false news, as facts. Its people like him who create conditions that get innocent people lynched. And they must be discouraged to do so in future.
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Mar 07, 2018 04:38pm
Govt banned Dr.Shahid Masood programe
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Mar 07, 2018 04:43pm
Of what little I have seen of his shows, all he does in deal in sensationalism. There is very little truth in his reports.
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Mar 07, 2018 04:46pm
Irresponsible,baseless reporting should be treated with strict punishment. Fake news buy these anchor persons their five minutes fame.
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Mar 07, 2018 04:55pm
Very highly controversial and selective top heavy justice enforced on the meek and politically powerless, while the powerful indulge in daily denigration and peddling damn lies, false claims and allegations against NAB, army and the judiciary right in front of the court by way of press conferences aired by each and every channel and reported by each and every newspaper. When equality in the eyes of the law is openly violated by courts and judges themselves, they turn even genuine justice in to a laughing stock in the eyes of the powerless public.
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Mar 07, 2018 04:59pm
He knowingly misled millions of his viewers and is guilty of obstruction of justice in that he could have changed the direction of the investigation into a dead end.
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Mar 07, 2018 05:15pm
I would rather stop watching his program any more. He is completely unreliable. In fact his conversation in the presence of a junior colleague is so boring that any intelligent can't bear it. This is the time for him to learn a lesson.
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Mar 07, 2018 05:26pm
Good stance taken by CJP.
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Mar 07, 2018 05:36pm
Have you seen his pictures with his mentors he cant be punished .
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Mar 07, 2018 06:41pm
Dr. Masood should be appropriately punished, as he was misleading the authorities.
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Mar 07, 2018 07:42pm
Banning is only one part of the punishment. He should also be jailed for at least 6 months.
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Mar 07, 2018 08:02pm
Before giving him any punishment, ask him when the day of judgement will come? He Only knows this and we don't want to loose this knowledge.
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Mar 07, 2018 08:08pm
A journalist can be wrong sometimes. It's not a big deal. Geo tv and Jang news has been publishing wrong fake news about judiciary for long time but it's never too late for them. Why these double standards?
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Mar 07, 2018 08:50pm
Just to make an example for others. Fine him for Rs, 10 million. I think this is a reasonable punishment. His false claims didn't results in any loss of life. He has lost his credibility and rating of his program will go down.
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Mar 07, 2018 08:55pm
With so much going on around the SC judgements catching this small fish is indeed a victory of justice, journalism and making Pakistan great. The SC can make an example of Shahid Masood but with him all the media houses pumping propaganda day and night must go. SC should use the tone with all the people involved in contempt of court cases.
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Mar 07, 2018 09:44pm
What Shahid Masood did is extremely irresponsible and sensational. Also this isn't a single instance, but a pattern on his part. It cannot be allowed to continue for someone holding a mouthpiece and millions in audience. Also a pattern of defiance and then apologizing when confronted has to stop, something that is too easy and allowed in Pakistan too many times. If you can't behave responsibly, you cannot be allowed to continue - politicians, journalists, lawyers, bureaucrats all included.
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Mar 07, 2018 09:47pm
It is too late because he was given an opportunity to apologise in the first court session. Over confidence over took rationale thinking Accountability should continue across the board.
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Mar 07, 2018 09:52pm
He should submit written unconditional apology together with a letter from Zainub father that he too pardon Dr Shahid Masood, because exaggerations relayed by Dr Masood in fact vandalize the respect of girl's father, more than it hurt the CJP or judiciary. Now this matter should be closed as it looks bad, that continuously the family feels humiliation on seeing news about their tragedy, and Dr Masood must stop exaggerations in his programmes.
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Mar 07, 2018 09:53pm
This TV achor used the power we gave him to feed us with false and sensational information. He had our trust to remove the chaos and darkness. Instead he added more.
This is prevalent and should not go unpunished.
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Mar 07, 2018 10:15pm
I request Hon. Judges to punish this guy. He is untrustworthy now. Should not be a anchor of a TV program. Life band must impose.
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Mar 07, 2018 10:18pm
This man belongs to gutter media...He is a bad name to all journalists. He deserves severe punishment because he misuse his position to spread chaos in the country. He is the hate monger not a journalist.
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Mar 07, 2018 10:29pm
people dont just pass your comments let the court decide the verdict.
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Mar 07, 2018 10:40pm
He did not indulge in criminal act , he did bad reporting , a
and he should be made to repeat his oath and course in
journalism, and advised to be appropriate in the future.Sending
him to jail and fining him will serve no purpose.
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Mar 07, 2018 10:41pm
The child abuse gangs are still in Kasur and still free to roam around
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Mar 07, 2018 10:47pm
@Luke exactly. He seemed to have done it in good faith, not with mal-intentions.
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Mar 07, 2018 11:26pm
Hiis degree needs to be checked. May be he got the degree from the ax act university.
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Mar 07, 2018 11:29pm
He thought he could get away with his lies. Any one with even half a brain would know right away that the culprit from Kasur cannot possibly have 37 foreign bank accounts.
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Mar 07, 2018 11:32pm
Criminal mafia is much more stronger than Political mafia.
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Mar 07, 2018 11:42pm
He should be made an example .. media has a responsibility and influence people mentality .. they should not be allowed to lie and get away with it ... he should be jailed and banned for life ... selling fake about children to get his ratings high. He is a disgrace
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Mar 07, 2018 11:48pm
Sorry to hear that Dr. Masood is in great trouble now. That's why there is a well known proverb "Think twice before speak".
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Mar 08, 2018 12:45am
A very soft target is Shahid Masood just to cover up the Mafia.
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Mar 08, 2018 02:20am
Why is Rana Sanaullah not being punished for his bogus claim that the murder of Zainab was part of a land dispute?
Do we want a country in which someone is punished for trying to do what is right?
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Mar 08, 2018 02:47am
Media regulation andvethical code of conduct must be strictly implemented. Hope PEMRA gets a new chairperson soon and takes necessary steps in future.
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Mar 08, 2018 03:08am
I would like to suggest a perfect punishment for him. He should not be barred from journalism. But he should be required to start any TV program he anchors or participates in with a statement that he provided false information to SCP and is sorry for that and will never deviate from speaking the truth in the program he is involved in. Let's see if any TV channel will sign him up with this requirement :-)
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Mar 08, 2018 04:37am
The real culprit is not Shahid Masood but a system which is psychotic, repressed and dysfunctional. Society as a whole is responsible for the sad state of affairs. From that perspective Mr. Masood is correct ! It is not a random event but the culmination of neglect and abuse towards the young. When we fail to protect the youth we are facilitating their exploitation and it is a collective failure ! He may not have articulated it appropriately but he is fundamentally correct!
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Mar 08, 2018 05:33am
Dr. Shahid Masood I feel sorry for you
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Mar 08, 2018 06:29am
Sensational news and lies are used for TV rating. There should be some penalty for this
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Mar 08, 2018 06:44am
I wish that all such people are punished including the champion allegator.
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Mar 08, 2018 09:35am
I fully support Dr. Shahid Masood, soon truth will come out and all these corrupt media personal supported by corrupt politicians will be in jail.
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Mar 08, 2018 10:27am
Good move by CJP to contain these practices , aim to create the false perceptions in a society.
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Mar 08, 2018 10:34am
Think of all those people who finds Shahid Masood an honest journalist.
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Mar 08, 2018 11:45am
Way to go Supreme Court. Time to make the clowns making hue and cry on tv everyday realize they cannot run away with all the lies they feed us day in and day out. Ban him for life.
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Mar 08, 2018 01:15pm
Shahid Massod may have lied and should be fired by his employer but he has not committed a crime so what punishment? and why punishment?
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Mar 08, 2018 01:49pm
6 months, one year, 2 year, 5 years life imprisonments...... do we have any right to feed the court his punishment? let court decide appropriately on scale and intensity of the offence. thanks.
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Mar 08, 2018 02:33pm
Never underestimate the power of media, especially in a society that comprises of not many literate people. Media has the responsibility of educating the nation and thus shaping the nation. If the media becomes corrupt, the haves will never stop to rob "haves not".
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Mar 08, 2018 06:29pm
Suspend his TV program and put him in jail for a few months. That should put him straight.
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Mar 08, 2018 07:04pm
I don’t think he is 100% wrong, but can’t prove his theory right at this moment..
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Mar 08, 2018 08:12pm
He rose on hyperbole, and he fell into it. Glory: easy come, easy go.
Public figures, especially journalists, should stick to truth, and only the truth.
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Mar 08, 2018 11:33pm
Sorry to say but , our intelligence agencies failed , what doctor sahib disclosed , our inviestigation base on punish not base on tech , this is very serious and high minded case which agencies just tried to ignore..agancies are not capabe to investigate this
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Mar 09, 2018 05:07am
@A&A Nice try all! Nothing new here..
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