A court in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Saturday ordered the filing of a first information report against news channels Zee News and News18 India for their allegedly false and defamatory coverage about a religious teacher during Operation Sindoor, Bar and Bench reported.

Sub-judge and Special Mobile Magistrate Shafeeq Ahmed issued the direction on a complaint filed by advocate Sheikh Mohammad Saleem.

The court said that the apology issued by the news channels in the matter did “not cure the mischief” caused by their “irresponsible reporting” amid heightened tensions in Jammu and Kashmir during the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May, The Wire reported.

In his complaint, Saleem alleged that the news channels falsely identified a religious teacher named Qari Mohammad Iqbal as a “Pakistani terrorist” linked to the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and alleged his involvement in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack.

Saleem claimed that Iqbal was a religious teacher at Jamia Zia-ul-Uloom, an Islamic seminary in Poonch, Bar and Bench reported. Iqbal was killed in Pakistani firing on May 7 while he was out buying groceries for his students’ meal.

However, Zee News and News18 India described him as a “notorious commander” killed in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in their coverage of Operation Sindoor, Saleem said, adding that their reporting falsely linked him to terrorism without any verification from official sources.

The complaint added that their coverage was later withdrawn after clarifications surfaced but not before serious damage was done to Iqbal’s reputation and that of his family, Bar and Bench reported.

During the proceedings, the police claimed that the broadcast originated from Delhi and therefore the matter fell outside the territorial jurisdiction of the court in Poonch.

However, the court said that when the consequence of an act like defamation occurred in a different location, jurisdiction was valid in either place under Section 199 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. He noted that the damage occurred in Poonch, where Iqbal lived, worked and was killed.

The court said that the freedom of the press was subject to reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2) of the Constitution on grounds such as defamation, public order, decency or morality even though it was a vital part of democracy protected under Article 19(1)(a), The Wire reported.

“In the present act, the act of branding a deceased civilian teacher of a local religious seminary as a ‘Pakistani terrorist’ without any verification, particularly during a period of Indo-Pak hostilities cannot be dismissed as a mere journalistic lapse,” the online news portal quoted the court as saying.

Media houses had an ethical and constitutional obligation to keep their reports accurate, fair, and verified, Ahmed said.

“Freedom of the press does not grant a license to publish defamatory or misleading material, and when such conduct results in serious harm to individuals or society at large, it must be addressed in accordance with law,” The Wire quoted the court as saying.

The judge said that the clarification issued by Zee News and News18 India was insufficient to nullify the consequences of the broadcast, Bar and Bench reported. The court also noted that it was the duty of the police to act once a cognisable offence was disclosed.

It ordered the police to file an FIR under sections pertaining to public mischief, defamation and promoting enmity between different religious groups of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with a section of the Information Technology Act related to dishonest or fraudulent act usinga computer.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated on May 7 when the Indian military carried out strikes – codenamed Operation Sindoor – on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 persons on April 22.

The Pakistani Army retaliated to Indian strikes by repeatedly shelling Indian villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. At least 22 Indian civilians and eight defence personnel were killed in the shelling.

The two sides on May 10 reached an “understanding” to halt firing following the four-day conflict.