Defamation happens when someone makes false statements that harm another person’s reputation. This can be written (libel) or spoken (slander). Such statements can lower how others view you and may affect your career, business, or social standing. Defamation Law includes any statement that exposes someone to hatred, ridicule, or disrespect. Written or spoken statements that are false and harm someone’s reputation are considered defamatory. If it makes people think less of you or avoid dealing with you, it may be a defamation case. The meaning of a statement is determined by how the recipient reasonably understands it, whether correctly or incorrectly. Regarding falsity, the law presumes a statement is false if it is defamatory, until it is proven to be true. Words are prima facie defamatory when their natural, apparent, and primary meaning is defamatory. Still, there can be phrases and expressions that are prima facie innocent but may be defamatory in their secondary or latent meaning.

Defamation Law Practice in Pakistan

Even indirect suggestions or hints can be considered slander if they harm someone’s reputation.
Remarks may be considered malicious if:

• They are untrue
  
• Not fair or honest
  
• Cause damage to someone’s career or personal life

An imputation damages a person’s reputation, which is either direct or indirect.

• reduces his / her ethical or intellectual nature; or
• lowers his / her character in respect of his / her caste or calling or his / her credit; or
• makes it thought that his or her body is in a repugnant state or in one generally deemed unacceptable.

Though such words are claimed to be untrue, defamatory and without just cause, a judge cannot be sued for defamation for remarks made by him while attempting a case in court.

Lawyers have the freedom to speak in court, but intentionally false or offensive statements outside legal proceedings may lead to liability.

The following actions are punishable: (1) printing or engraving slanderous information; (2) the sale of printed or engraved products, including defamatory material.

Defamation according to Pakistani Law

Defamation Ordinance 2002 governs allof  Pakistan’s accumulation of defamatory affairs:

In Pakistan, the legal framework for defamation is primarily established under the Defamation Ordinance 2002:

• Any illegal act or dissemination of a false claim or portrayal communicated orally or in written or visual form that damages a person’s reputation would be defamatory and could drop him in others’ estimation or make him subject to mockery, unjust criticism, hate, contempt, or hostility.
• There are two kinds of defamation: (i) libel and (ii) slander.
• Any incorrect oral statement or depiction that amounts to defamation is libelous.
• Any false written or visual assertion, made in basic form or expression, or through electronic or other contemporary technology or instruments, amounting to defamation Law will be actionable as libel.

Under Section 4: defamation constitutes an actionable civil wrong:

Publishing defamatory information is an actionable tort with no evidence of particular harm to the person defamed, and when defamation is shown, damage will be presumed.

Defences to the regulation of defamation were furnished in Section 5: In defamation proceedings, a person has a defence if he shows that:

• He was not the statement complained of’s author, editor, publisher, or printer;
• Published in good faith, the topic discussed is just and in the public interest; it is an expression of opinion and not an assertion of fact; 
• Designed for the public good, it draws from truth.
• The plaintiff approved the publishing of the book.
• The defendant offered to tender a fitting apology and print the same, but the plaintiff declined.
• The plaintiff rejected an offer made to print or publish a contradiction or denial in the same way and with the same visibility.
• The matter complained of was privileged communication, as between lawyer and client or between people having fiduciary relationships, and
• Absolute or qualified privilege covers the issue.

Under Section 6: of the Defamation Ordinance the government does not fall under the defamation during certain statements, they are called absolute privileges: Every publication of statement made in the Federal or Provincial legislatures, reports, papers, notes and proceedings ordered to be published by either of the Houses of the Parliament, and every statement, publication, written or published under the authorities of a Government shall have the perfection of absolute privilege.

Explanation: In this section, the legislature comprises a local legislature, and the court includes any Tribunal or body that exercises judicial powers.

Section 7: is an exemption of some things against defamation; they are known as qualified privileges: Qualified Privilege: All fair and accurate publications of parliament proceedings, or judicial proceedings to which the public is permitted to attend, and statements made to the appropriate authorities with a view of obtaining the redress of the grievances of the people shall be entitled to the protection of qualified privileges.

Section 8: provides that the plaintiff must provide the notice of action before any legal action would be initiated by the plaintiff on the defamatory matter against the defendant: No action lies unless the plaintiff has within two months after the publication of the defamatory matter has come to his notice or knowledge, given to the defendant, fourteen days notice in writing of his intention to bring an action, specifying the defamatory matter complained of.

Section 9: provides a solution in the event of the defamation being found to have happened: Remedies: Where Defamation Law Court may grant an order requiring the defendant to make an apology, where it may be acceptable to the plaintiff, and to publish the apology similarly as the defamatory statement itself was published and paying such reasonable compensatory damages as general damages and such additional special damages as the plaintiff proves to the satisfaction of the Court.

Section 10: provides that the defamation proceedings will be subject to CPC and Qanoon-e-Shahadat Order with mutatis mutandis.

Section 11: Ordinance not to prejudice action against criminal defamation: No act in this ordinance shall prejudice an action against a criminal defamation liable or slander under any law then in force.

Section 12: Time Limit for Initiating Legal Action Against:

• A writer, editor, owner, or publisher of a newspaper;
• The proprietor of a broadcasting station;
• Any staff member, employee, or representative of the newspaper or broadcasting station; or
• Any other individual.

Where the defamation in the newspaper or broadcasting by the station or in its publication otherwise, is taken within the 6 months following the publication of the defamatory matter to the notice or knowledge of such person, defamed.

Section 13: Trial of Cases: The District Court shall have the authority to try cases according to this ordinance.

Section 14: Court to decide a case expeditiously: The Court shall decide a case under this Ordinance within a period of ninety days.

Section 15: An appeal to the final decision and decree of the Court will be to the High Court within 30 days, and the High Court shall determine the appeal within the period of sixty days.

No appeal will lie against an interlocutory order of the Court.

The definition, explanation of the Law of Defamation in Pakistan, as well as the exceptions and the punishment is also explained in the Pakistan Penal Code under sections 499 to 502.

Defamation, as defined in Section 499 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, has been said to be as follows:

Any person, by words spoken, or to be spoken, or by sign or by visible representation, makes or publishes any imputation of any person, with intention to harm or knowing or having reason to know that such imputation will harm, the reputation of any such person, and is said, unless as hereinafter excepted, to defame that person.

Explanation 1: It can be defamation to suggest anything against a dead person, where the suggestion will be defamatory against the person himself had he lived, and which is calculated to be defamatory to the emotions of his family or other immediate relatives.

Explanation 2: It can take the form of defamation to impute an assertion about a company, or a collection of persons as such, or an association.

Explanation 3: An imputation consisting of an alternative or an imputation done ironically would be considered defamation.

Explanation 4 No imputation is said to prejudice the reputation of the person whose reputation it is, except so far as the imputation directly or indirectly in the judgment of those to whom it is imputed, tends to undermine the moral intellectual character of the person charged with it in relation to his caste, or to his vocation, or has the effect of undermining in the estimation of those to whom the imputation is directed, the credit of the person charged, or of making it believed that the body of that person is in an odious condition, or in a condition generally

The section mentioned above has some exceptions:

First Exception: Imputation of truth which the people will demand to be made or published: It is no defamation to impute something true of any person, which is in the public good that the imputation be made or published. It is a question of fact whether it is in the public good or not.

Second Exception: Public act or persons of the government: Public conduct or government servant. It is not defamation to say in good faith any opinion whatever about the conduct of a person in the discharge of his public functions, or about his character, so far as his character appears in that conduct, and no further.

Third Exception: Conduct of any Person touching any Question of Publication: It is not defamation Law to state in good faith any opinion whatever as regards the conduct of any person touching any question of publication, and as regards his character, as far as his character is observable in such conduct, and no farther.

Fourth Exception: Publication of reports of proceedings of courts: It is not defamation to publish a report of the proceedings of a court of justice, or the result of any proceedings, which contains a substantial truth.

Explanation: A Court within the meaning of the above section is a justice of the Peace or other officer in charge of an enquiry in open Court before a trial is commenced in a Court of Justice.

Fifth Exception: Merits of the case decided in Court or the behavior of the witness and others involved: It is not defamation to genuinely express any opinion about the merits of any civil or criminal case that has been decided by a Court of Justice, or about the behavior of any individual in any such case as a party, witness, or agent, or about the character of such person, but only to the extent that his character is reflected in that behavior.

Sixth Exception: Benefits of performing in public: It is not libelous to honestly state one’s opinion on the quality of any performance that its creator has made available for public evaluation, or on the author’s character as it is revealed in such performance, and nothing more.

Explanation: A performance may be presented to the judgment of the public either explicitly or through the author’s actions, which indicate that the public is judging the work.

Seventh Exception: A censure that someone with legitimate authority over another person has passed in good faith: It is not libellous for someone who has any legal authority over another, whether granted by law or derived from a legitimate agreement with that other-to honestlycriticisee the other person’s behavior in areas to which that lawful authority pertains.

Eighth Exception: Accusation made in good faith to an authorised individual: When choosing between an accusation against someone and any of the individuals who have legal jurisdiction over that person in relation to the subject of the charge, it is not defamation to make a fair choice.

Ninth Exception: When a person is imputed in good faith for the purpose of protecting his or her own interests: An imputation on someone else’s character is not defamatory if it is done in good faith to protect the interests of the person making it, any other person, or the general public.

Tenth Exception: Caution meant to benefit the individual to whom it is addressed or the general public: In good faith, it is not slander to warn one person against another, as long as the purpose of the caution is for the benefit of the person to whom it is given, or for the benefit of someone in whom that person has an interest, or for the good of the general public.

The Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, Section 500, defines the penalty for defamation as follows: 

Material that is known to be libellous in print or engraving: Any person who prints or engraves any material that they know or have reason to believe is libellous of anyone will be subject to simple imprisonment for up to two years, a fine, or both.

Selling libellous material in print or via engraving: Any person who sells or advertises for sale any printed or engraved material that contains defamatory content, knowing that it does so, will be subject to simple imprisonment for a period of time that may last up to two years, a fine, or both.

In Section 12(3) of the West Pakistan Press & Publications Ordinance, 1963, the term defamation is employed in the sense of offence as defined in Section 499, P. P. C., and not in its lexical meaning. The statement alleged to be defamatory must be demonstrated to be: ifora libel case to be established:

• False;
• In writing;
• Defamatory; and
• Published.

According to Section 13 of the Defamation Ordinance, 2002, defamation must be heard by the District Court. The definition of defamation in section 3 of this ordinance is to make a false statement that harms a person’s reputation or subjects him to ridicule, unjust criticism, or hatred. For the Defamation Ordinance, 2002, a distinction must be made in this context between a statement that has not been proven and one that has been clearly determined to be untrue. An accused is entitled to all protections under criminal law, and the prosecution must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. In a claim for damages, the plaintiff must meet a high burden of proof, and the simple fact that a statement cannot be proven does not always mean that it is untrue. If such a distinction is abolished, any defendant who is given the most benefit of the doubt may file a defamation suit upon being found not guilty, which does not seem to be the law’s intention.

Requisites To The Law Of Defamation

(1) Publication – an essential ingredient

According to the Penal Code, a defamation crime occurs when any imputation concerning any person is made or published by words, either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, with the intent to injure or with the knowledge or reasonable belief that such imputation will harm the reputation of that person.

The act of defamation must include the creation or dissemination of an imputation about anyone, and the creation or dissemination must be carried out with the aim to injure or with the knowledge or reasonable expectation that such imputation will harm the reputation of that person. Defamation Law cannot occur in the absence of publication. It should be kept in mind that the Indian Penal Code comprehensively codifies the law pertaining to the offences it covers, and the common law principles cannot be used to create exemptions that are not clearly stated.

(2) Makes or publishes

The individual who makes the defamatory allegation and the person who publishes it are both subject to criminal law under Section 499. Therefore, unless the accused utters or publishes the libellous remark, there can be no crime of defamation. The terms makes or publishes are emphasised in Section 499; if there is no proof that the petitioner had created or released the libellous charge, the matter will be resolved, and there will be no need to address the further issue of justification or whether there was express malice. Theoffencess then consist of spreading false and detrimental information about someone else.

The words “makes or publishes” are used in the section to convey this. The word “makes” is meant to refer to the source of the imputation, but it also applies to someone who repeats, writes, or copies it, even if they are not the one who created it. The word “makes” is meant to augment the meaning of “publishes,” which is unquestionably used here in its etymological sense, referring to the act of releasing information to the public or making it available to the world at large.

(3) Journalists are in a better position than any other person

Reporters are in a better position than anybody else. The first exception to section 499 does not allow for a defence even if the accusation is true, unless it is demonstrated to be in the public interest. Similar to any other pertinent fact in dispute, the question of whether it was in the public interest is one of fact.

(4) How made

The final need for defamation is the dissemination of the offensive words. This involves interaction with other individuals. Therefore, there is no publishing if the offensive language is merely addressed to the person who has been slandered. The injury to reputation is known as defamation; As a result, the wrong is committed when the plaintiff is defamed to others, which influences their perception of him. The act of libel is defined as publishing to a third party.

If only the complainant is told of the defamatory words, there will be no defamation. His thoughts about himself are irrelevant. It’s what other people think of him. Hence, it is sufficient for the defamatory words to be communicated to at least one other person in order for the reputation to be harmed. As Lord Esher, M. R., observed, the publication is the communication of the libellous content, after it has been written, to a person about whom it is written. The statement is not published if it is addressed directly to the individual it is about. A libel made to the party that was libelled is obviously not considered publication for a civil lawsuit. As a result, the publication of the libel, rather than the writing itself, constitutes the material component of the cause of action in libel.

The core of the crime of defamation is the propagation of the damaging accusation. The word makes is used in the context of the fact that both the author and the publisher of a defamatory statement are accountable. Since the goal of the imputation is to provoke others’ animosity, the crime of defamation must be communicated to a third party to be considered the offence. The crime is not established if a person just writes defamatory words and keeps them to himself.

In the same way, it is not an offence under the aforementioned action if the libeller simply informs the individual who has been defamed about the liability, even if it may be considered an insult and be subject to punishment as such. It is important to determine if the slander has actually been conveyed to a third party. Posting it to a third party is not enough. Without a doubt, a statement made to defame oneself is not considered a publication in the context of defamation law.