Acting Governor Punjab Malik Ahmad Khan on Saturday signed the controversial Punjab Defamation Bill 2024, which the Punjab Assembly earlier passed, VOS News reported.
As per details, Acting Governor Malik Ahmed Khan sent the document to Punjab Assembly after signing the bill. The defamation bill will be effective after being officially published in the government gazette.
Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan earlier hinted at not assenting the Defamation Bill 2024 and sending it back to the provincial assembly for reconsideration.
The governor had said that he would ask the Punjab government to reconsider the bill. Sardar Saleem Haider Khan said that the bill should not have been passed ‘in a hurry’.
He also said that all stakeholders including the journalist community must have been taken on board before the legislation.
However, the Defamation Bill 2024 was signed by the Acting Governor Malik Ahmed Khan when Governor Saleem Haider was on leave.