23/12/2024, 19:03 The Punjab Defamation Act 2024 proceedings. Any statement made by the authorized officer or attorney shall be deemed to be a statement of the holder of Constitutional Office: Provided that the any change of status or position of the holder of the Constitutional Office or cessation of his position as such will not affect the proceedings already initiated and the same shall continue and be concluded in the same mode and manner, on the basis of such position, as it stood on the day when the claim was filed. (4) The claim shall comprise of a concise statement of facts and damages being sought, supported by statements in the form of affidavits of at-least two witnesses along with all the relevant documents concerning the claim, including the defamatory statement. (5) Copies of the claim, affidavits and other relevant documents shall be filed with the Tribunal in such numbers that there is one set of copies for each Defendant and one extra copy. (6) The claim shall specifically state the amount of General, Special and Punitive Damages along-with costs sought by the Claimant. (7) On a claim being presented to the Tribunal, summons in Form No. 4 in Appendix 'B' to the Code or in such other form as may, from time to time, be prescribed by the rules under this Act, shall be served on the Defendant through the process-server of the Tribunal, by registered post, by email, SMS, WhatsApp, courier, by publication in one English language and one Urdu language daily newspaper of wide circulation, and to the extent practicable by the same mode, medium or platform through which the defamatory material has been disseminated. The service duly effected in any one of the aforesaid modes shall be deemed to be valid service for purposes of this Act. (8) In the case of service of the summons through process-server, a copy of the claim shall be attached therewith and in all other cases, the Defendant shall be entitled to obtain a copy of the claim from the office of the Tribunal without making a written application but against due acknowledgement. 12. No comment on pending proceedings.– (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act or in any other law for the time being in force, no person (including but not limited to, the parties to the proceedings before the Tribunal, their counsel and legal advisers, witnesses, the member of the Tribunal, court staff, or any other third person) shall be permitted to comment or make any statement relating to any proceedings pending before the Tribunal under this Act. This clause shall apply automatically from the inception till the final conclusion of the proceedings, and shall not require any order to this effect being specifically passed by the Tribunal or any other authority. (2) Any person who is found in violation of the prohibition imposed by subsection (1) by the Tribunal, whether on the application of any person or on its own motion, shall be liable to pay an initial fine of Rs. 50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand) for each violation, along with an additional Rs. 10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) for each day that the said violation continues. In case of more than one violation, the fines so prescribed shall be payable for each violation separately. (3) No defense whatsoever, such as fair comment, discussion in the public interest, an expression of opinion or fact, comment made in good faith, ignorance of law, etc., shall be available to any person for violation of sub-section (1). 13. Leave to defend.– (1) In any case in which the summons have been served on the Defendant as provided for in sub-section (7) of section 11, the Defendant shall not be entitled to defend the claim unless he obtains leave to defend from the Tribunal as hereinafter provided; and, in default of his doing so, the allegations of fact in the claim shall be deemed to be admitted and the Tribunal shall forthwith pass a preliminary decree punjablaws.gov.pk/laws/2884.html 8/13