SHC grants bail to filmmaker Jami in defamation case

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday granted bail to filmmaker Jamshed Mehmood Raza, popularly known as Jami, in a defamation case filed by fellow director Sohail Javed.

The court approved Jami’s bail against surety bonds worth Rs 50,000 and directed jail authorities to release him.

On Tuesday, a sessions court in Karachi had sentenced Jami to two years in prison for defaming Javed.

Along with the prison term, Additional Sessions Judge (South) Syed Waqar Hyder imposed a Rs 10,000 fine.

Jami filed an appeal with the SHC, challenging his conviction. In the petition, he argued that the charges were bailable and alleged that the trial court did not follow due legal process before delivering its verdict.

He described the accusations as “false and baseless” and requested the high court to annul the lower court’s ruling.

The case dates back to February 2019, when Javed sent a legal notice to Jami demanding a public apology through the same or a similar platform where the disputed content had appeared.

On March 9, Jami’s legal team denied the claims. That same day, Javed initiated a defamation lawsuit, seeking the removal of related social media posts, Rs 500 million in damages, and another Rs 500 million for emotional harm.

In his defence, Jami stated he did not intend to defame anyone. He said the letter in question was given to him by the organisers of Lahooti Melo, and he was unaware of its content before reading it publicly. After sharing a video of the reading online, he claimed it was viewers who identified Javed in the comments. Upon realizing this, Jami said he removed the post and deactivated his Facebook account.