LAHORE: The Punjab governor has approved the establishment of three defamation tribunals at Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi and notified as many district & sessions judges (D&SJs) to head them.

According to a notification issued on Sept 22, D&SJs Anjum Raza Syed, Ibrahim Asghar and Ghaffar Mehtab have been appointed as members of the Punjab Defamation Tribunals of Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi, respectively.

These tribunals have been established under sub-section 1 of section 8 of the Punjab Defamation Act 2024, which was challenged before the Lahore High Court (LHC) by journalists and civil society.

In 2024, the LHC had linked any proceedings under “The Defamation Act 2024” to the outcome of the petitions. The petitions are still pending adjudication.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2025