KARACHI: A sessions court on Saturday sentenced journalist Asad Kharal for three months in prison in a defamation case.

Mr Kharal was present on bail in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Fateh Mubeen Nizam. But he was not taken into custody as his counsel undertook to file an appeal against his conviction before the appellate court on the very next working day.

“Till then the surety of the accused in main case may be treated as surety, order passed on it,” the court ordered. It also fined him for Rs100,000 and in case of default he would have to undergo one-month additional imprisonment.

Mr Kharal was accused of levelling “false, baseless and defamatory allegations / remarks” against JS Group in his TV show in 2016.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2022