Overview

• On June 28, Special Mobile Magistrate Shafeeq Ahmed directed the registration of an FIR against Zee News and News18 for prima facie violations of defamation, public mischief, and hate-speech laws
• Poonch police are preparing to open an investigation under Sections 353, 356 and 196(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66 of the IT Act into unverified claims that Qari Mohammad Iqbal was a Lashkar-e-Taiba commander
• Iqbal was killed on May 7 while shielding three students from cross-border shelling and was later officially cleared by police of any terrorist affiliation
• Iqbal’s family, led by his nephew Tariq Manzoor, has called for the revocation of the channels’ broadcasting licences and for stronger safeguards against defamatory reporting
• Legal experts and civil society groups say the case highlights tensions between press freedom and accountability and could set a precedent for media regulation