Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has said that a a criminal case of defamation will be filed against Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Siddiqui for claiming that estranged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Jahangir Tareen used to pay PM Imran Khan's household expenses.

“It is lawfully important to secure the dignity and respect of a prime minister because his personality is equivalent to an institution,” said Fawad while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.

Wajihuddin Ahmed, who resigned from the PTI five years ago after developing differences with party chief Imran Khan, had claimed during a programme on Bol News that Tareen used to foot the bill of PM Imran's household expenses. He didn't provide any proof of his claims.

Tareen denied the claim in a tweet on Wednesday.

He also announced that the government would issue notices to all media organizations who aired the news of the former PTI leader Siddiqui.

Fawad in his address said the mainstream media and social media continuously violated right to dignity which was being enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan.

“In the country not only the dignity of an ordinary citizen but also respect of prime minister is not safe,” he said, adding a campaign being run against Prime Minister Imran Khan was regrettable.

“Siddique has made the claim that Tareen used to give Rs5 million for managing Prime Minister Imran Khan’s residence and later the PTI leader, acting like a gentleman, refuted the claim,” he said.

The federal minister noted that responsibility is mandatory with rights and the government proposed the Pakistan Media Development Authority Bill (PMDA) on the basis of the issues which were being discussed. “If media shows no responsibility related to the news about the prime minister then what would it do,” he added.

The federal minister also referred to multiple instances in which the prime minister’s personal life was being targetted.

“A case is pending against journalist Najam Sethi for three years for airing the news that prime minister Imran Khan divorced his wife. The claim was later proved false,” he added.

He also said the media spread rumours that the Islamabad chief commissioner was being replaced because the prime minister had asked for security of his residence in Bani Gala.

The PMDA would ensure that campaigns were not being launched in media related to armed forces, judiciray and state institutions. “Media houses don’’t follow any law in Pakistan whereas they pay damages abroad for harming the respect of people," Fawad continued.

Fawad added that the argument of the independence of media was being used as a pretext for special campaigns to weaken the system of Pakistan.

He also said the prime minister had given all the plots in charity which he received while playing for the cricket team.

“If the prime minister wanted to accumulate property, he would not refuse his share in the property after divorce with Jamaima Goldsmith,” he said.

However, he added the judicial system was failing to act on defamation cases and these were also not being taken seriously.

He requested chief justices of high courts and the Supreme Court to form special divisional benches at district levels and high court levels to hear these cases to create an order in the country.

Fawad also announced the government had shared suggestions related to the PMDA with the action committee and a new draft of the bill has been made.

“Media organisations should work on the final draft [of the PMDA],” he said, adding it was important to enforce Article 9 of the constitution.

In response to a question that why media was being penalized for airing the statement of a political personality, Fawad said Tareen’’s version should have been added before publishing the news by those media houses who ran a special campaign against the prime minister.