23/12/2024, 19:03 The Punjab Defamation Act 2024 (i) (j) (k) (l) (m) (n) (o) (p) (q) (r) (s) (t) (u) (v) (w) punjablaws.gov.pk/laws/2884.html of others, or ridicules him, or exposes him to unjust criticism, disliking, contempt or hatred, and such defamation shall also include comments, statements and representations targeted towards certain genders and minorities as contained in section 14 of this Act; “Defendant” means the person who has allegedly committed defamation and against whom a claim has been filed by the Claimant before the Tribunal; “editor” means a person having editorial or equivalent responsibility for the content of the statement or the decision to publish or circulate it, and also includes the operator or user of a social media account or medium, as defined in clause (b) of this section; “General Damages” means damages to be granted by the Tribunal at the time of granting preliminary decree, if the Defendant fails to obtain leave to defend in terms of section 13 of this Act, with a minimum of Rs. 3,000,000/- (Rupees Three Million); “Government” means Government of the Punjab; “Journalist” means any person who is professionally or regularly engaged by a newspaper, magazine, news website or other news broadcast medium (whether online or offline), and includes any person who creates and uploads social media news or current affairs content or otherwise has a substantial track record of freelancing for any newspaper, magazine, news website or other news broadcast medium; “Member” means a Member of the Tribunal appointed under section 8 of this Act but does not include a specially nominated Single Bench of the Lahore High Court; “newspaper” means a newspaper and includes a website, application or other social media platform containing public news, intelligence or occurrences or remarks or observations or containing only, or principally, advertisements, printed or electronically or digitally issued for distribution to the public and published or issued periodically or in parts or numbers, and includes such other periodical works as the Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare to be a newspaper; “originator” means the initiator of the defamatory statement or any other defamatory act; “Parties” means the parties to the proceedings before the Tribunal, i.e., the Claimant and the Defendant; “prescribed” means prescribed by the rules made under this Act; “publication” means the communication of the words or visual statement or representation to at least one person other than the person defamed, and includes a newspaper or broadcast; “publisher” means a commercial publisher, that is, a person whose business is to publicize or disseminate any material to the public or a section of the public and who issues material containing the statement in the course of that business; “Punitive Damages” means the damages in cases demonstrating malice, bad-faith or repeated conduct by the Defendant, which may extend up to ten (10) times the quantum of the General Damages; “rules” means the rules made under this Act. “Special Damages” means the damages to be granted after the final conclusion of the proceedings, if the Claimant seeks to proceed further with the case after issuance of the preliminary decree and has been able to 4/13