Court orders FIR against Indian TV channels for falsely labelling shelling victim as terrorist

June 29, 2025 by News Desk

A court in Poonch has directed police to register an FIR against Zee News, News18, Republic TV and unnamed editors and anchors for falsely portraying a slain Islamic teacher, Qari Mohammad Iqbal, as a “Pakistani terrorist” in their coverage last month.

The order was passed on June 28 by Sub-Judge Shafeeq Ahmed after Iqbal’s family filed a defamation complaint, accusing the TV channels of tarnishing his image without any verification.

Iqbal, a respected religious teacher at Jamia Zia-ul-Uloom in Poonch, was killed in Pakistani artillery fire on May 7 while buying groceries for students. He was among 12 civilians killed in the cross-border shelling that followed India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’.

Some national TV outlets had falsely described Iqbal as a senior Lashkar-e-Tayyeba commander. Zee News called him a “terrorist”, Republic TV labelled him a “top LeT commander”, and CNN News18 reported him as a “Lashkar terrorist”.

The misleading coverage sparked protests in Poonch and drew strong backlash from residents and religious bodies.

“The apology … does not cure the mischief caused by their irresponsible reporting,” the court said, adding that the false branding of a deceased civilian during a time of conflict “cannot be dismissed as a mere journalistic lapse.”

It further observed, “Freedom of the press does not grant a license to publish defamatory or misleading material … such conduct must be addressed in accordance with law.”

The court directed police to register a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for public mischief, defamation, and promoting enmity, along with section 66 of the IT Act.

The SHO of Poonch police station has been ordered to submit a compliance report within seven days.