Recently two Pakistani networks were embroiled in a court case in UK over one network (Geo Group) accusing the other network (ARY Group) of indulging in defamation and libel.
The high profile case concerning two Pakistani media conglomerates was heard in the UK and was recently concluded – with the judge awarding damages of £185,000 (some PKR 25 million) that ARY needs to pay to Geo over defaming its owner Mir Shakil ur Rahman.
After the conclusion of this case, and the passage of almost a month, the UK-based Judge Sir David Eady has ruled that ARY needs to broadcast the news of its loss to Geo in its TV channels. And that too in Urdu. Failure to do so could mean more punitive measures against the already penalized network.
ARY needs to state that:
“On Dec 2, 2016, the High Court of Justice ordered the UK broadcaster of ARY News… to pay £185,000 in libel damages to Mir Shakilur Rehman, the Editor-in-Chief of Jang/Geo Group, in relation to seriously defamatory allegations broadcast in 24 programmes which the judge said simply had no foundation.
The court held that the broadcasts were unrelenting and calculated to arouse hatred towards Mir Shakilur Rehman (and indeed quite possibly violence) among members of the Pakistani community in this jurisdiction.”
The judge told ARY to broadcast the above message in Urdu on Dec 23rd at the following timeslots at the beginning of each hour:
- 6 PM
- 10 PM
- 3 AM
In case that idea of public humiliation wasn’t enough, the judge also ordered ARY to state that it had no evidence to back up its claims against the owner of Geo Group.
It should be mentioned that ARY has appealed against this decision and that nothing is known about the status of that appeal to date. The appeal is expected to delay the time when it is supposed to carry an on-air correction on its TV channels.
ARY doesn’t only have to pay £185,000 but also additional £1,500,000 (1.5M) to cover Geo Group legal costs.
Good, but this should have been first from Pemra. Why did GEO need to go to UK court, because it shows how corrupt and incompetent Pakistani judiciary and bureaucracy is.
“Baat to sach hain magar baat hain ruswaye k”
yeh pakistani system ko aina dekhane k mutaradif hain
beacause ary and geo news are both based in and operational from UK so they had to go to UK court .
Haha. the wording!!
Its looks like justice in UK. But in here, ARY is lol’ed. Will be pretty amusing to hear the statement on their channel.
Yr kia bkwas hai ab UK faisalay kre ga hmare mulk k. ARY has done the right thing to show the real face of this traitor.
uk faisla is liye karay ga ku k dono channels uk based hain or geo nay case uk court main kiy a:)
Bhai jan unho n real face nahe dikaya sirf jota ilzam lagaya aur owsko sabit karnai main nakam rahe…….bhai wo UK hain waha insaf ka nizam aap har shakhs par ilzam na he laga saktai
Solution is simple. ARY should broadcast according to UK time (GMT+0) to shove middle finger up the judge’s…..
As far as I understand, ARY is only required to broadcast this message on its UK channel.
ARY News has highest viewership among all South Asian news channels in UK. So, even it will also hurt ARY.
ARY is prime example of Yellow Journalism with unlimited Dhittaiڈھٹائی… they’ve replaced Mubashar Luqman with even bigger liars like Arif Hameed Bhatti and Arshad Sharif
Hahahaha….you forgot one word they are not lier they are only patriot of Pakistan and rest are traitors
IK ko chaie k apna panama ka case US ya UK me lejae.
Shahbash! Geo to aise!
Ary is going to be dead now.
As far as I remember, GEO (A pro Shareef channel) defaced itself to the people of Pakistan, the day when they blamed ISI for attacking Hamid Mir was the last day I watched this channel and I see things falling apart for them since then. May Allah bless them..!
Why? Criticizing your country’s spy agency for malpractice is wrong?
Geo is pro shareef becuase it was subdued and punished when it tried to criticize the omnipotent ISI. Look how the developed nations criticize every move, every policy of their security agencies. What we do? We sit around and drink tea while our agencies enjoy unlimited and unrestrained powers. Even an ASP of police is omnipotent in our country.
You are comparing ISI with the ASP of police..quite amusing..! My question for you.. Are you sure you know “enough” about ISI…? [A little and too much knowledge, both are dangerous]
Regarding GEO, what they did isn’t criticism, there is a huge barrier between condemnation and blame.
And if the ‘unlimited’ and ‘unrestrained powers’ would have done anything, do you think that a channel like GEO has the potential to absorb it..?
GEO is pro Shareef from birth and is subdued and punished partially by General Pervez Musharraf and mostly by itself.
They are actually one and the same. Police are open, ISI is hidden. In the training you receive when you are recruited in ISI, it ingrains you that you can order anyone 3 grades above you elsewhere and make them do your bidding. This was straight out of the instructor’s mouth.
There is no check and balance, only your CO can do something about it. Humans have vanity ingrained, out of the 1000s operatives and officials, how many will let go, and very few let go. Most of the people oppressed by them have no means to stop it as they can’t know who is the particular CO. They can’t talk about it, due to the unwarranted surveillance can get them in a moment’s notice.
No doubt Geo News is ‘Shoda’ but ARY is completely biased media house unfortunately. It was once my favorite when it was known as ARY One World.
Sub se bara shoda to Bol Tv hai