Special Assistant to the Chief Minister Punjab (SACM) on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has served Pakistan Peoples Party's Member of National Assembly (MNA) Qadir Mandokhen a defamation notice after a video of two politicians having a spat on TV went viral.
Firdous Awan, in the notice, has accused Mandokhel of passing "defamatory statements, false, politically motivated, and absurd accusations" as well as "inappropriate behavior".
She alleged that PPP's MNA was "intoxicated for the entirety of the show."
SACM legal representative has asked Mandokhel to:
The notice has been served under Section 8 of Defamation Ordinance, 2002, and after a video went viral in the early hours of Thursday in which Awan and Mandokhel can be seen engaging in a verbal spat that soon turns physical.
The two politicians, who were guests on a private TV channel's talk show, started accusing each other of committing corruption on air. A leaked video later showed the feud turning physical as Awan slapped Mandokhel. (Warning: The video contains abusive language.)
In a longer video — which offers some context to the feud — Mandokhel can be seen accusing Awan of being corrupt while she tells him that she will take him to the court for leveling 'baseless accusations'. The host can also be seen in the video trying to cool down the two politicians.
Special assistant to the chief minister on information later took to Twitter to claim that the leaked video tells an incomplete story and urged the TV channel to release the full video without muting Mandokhel's words. In a video message, she said she will take legal action against Mandkhel and saying he pushed her to take the very step.
"During the talk show, PPP's Qadir Mandokhel threatened me. He insulted my late father and me by using abusive language. I had to take an extreme step in my defense," Awan tweeted along with a video statement.
