Punjab govt to take legal action against those involved in ‘malicious campaign’ over use of official jet – Pakistan

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sunday said the provincial government has decided to take legal action against those involved in a “malicious campaign” targeting it over the use of an official aircraft.

Last month, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz faced harsh criticism from the opposition and some journalists over the government’s attitude. buys of the aircraft. The 19-seater Gulfstream aircraft is estimated to be worth between $38 million and $42 million (over Rs 10 billion) and was purchased for the CM’s use.

More recently, there have been claims and speculation on social media that Maryam’s son Junaid Safdar used the plane to travel to Europe for his honeymoon.

In a post on

The minister shared that the government had decided to take legal action against “all individuals and platforms” involved under the Defamation Act 2024.

“Disinformation will no longer go unanswered,” he added.

Aurangzeb warned that “those who think they can defame institutions and mislead the public without consequences should prepare to face the law.”

He said the provincial government will seek to “seek recourse to the maximum penalty provided by law to ensure a clear and unambiguous message.”

The minister maintained that fake news was not “real journalism” but rather defamation. “Pathological lying lunatics will not be tolerated; enough is enough,” he stressed.

The registration number of the luxury plane purchased by the provincial government was initially reported to be N144S. A search on flight tracking website Flight Radar showed that the plane left Vienna today and landed in Lahore at 9:30 p.m.

But the Sharif family clarified in a statement that reports that Junaid Safdar traveled to Vienna on the plane were false and that he was at his Raiwind residence along with his wife.

The statement issued by the Sharif family spokesperson further stated that Junaid reserved the right to take legal action against those who spread “fake and false news”.

Earlier, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari had stated that the plane had traveled to Vienna for a “technical inspection”.

“The speculations circulating in this regard are not only contrary to facts but also unfortunate. Technical inspection of the aircraft within a certain period is part of the contract. Those spreading unfounded rumors about routine inspection should focus on more constructive issues,” Bokhari had said.

He added that a “false propaganda campaign” had previously been launched about Maryam Nawaz’s trip abroad, and now “made-up stories about her family are circulating.”

“The politics of lies and propaganda cannot survive for long, until the truth finally comes to light,” he commented.

Aurangzeb had also earlier accused PTI activists and others of waging a smear campaign against CM Maryam over the decision to purchase the luxury jet.

The PTI-led opposition has argued that “spending billions on a VIP plane is unjustifiable when a large section of the population lives below the poverty line.”

Similarly, Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman also attacked the provincial government, saying that while the prime minister was celebrating the sale of national airline Pakistan International Airlines, his niece, CM Maryam, went ahead and bought a luxury plane for “elite” travel.

Initially, the Punjab administration remained tight-lipped about the acquisition but later claimed that it was part of a proposed airline project.

When questions were raised over the absence of a roadmap for the airline, the government later claimed that the previous aircraft used by CM Maryam had become old and needed to be replaced with a “new and safe aircraft”.