CrPC § 198A — Prosecution for defamation against public servants in respect of their conduct in the

Statutory text (English)

discharge of public functions.—
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Code, when any offence
falling under Chapter XXI of the Pakistan Penal Code (XLV of 1860) is alleged to have beam committed
against the President, the Prime Minister, a Federal Minister, Minister of State, Governor, Chief Minister or
Provincial Minister or any public servant employed in connection with the affairs of the Federation or of a
Province, in respect of his conduct in the discharge of his public functions, a Court of Session may take
cognizance of such offence, without the accused being committed to it for trial, upon a complaint in writing
made by the Public Prosecutor.

(2) Every such complaint shall set forth the facts which constitute the offence alleged, the nature of
such offence and such other particulars as are reasonably sufficient to give notice to the accused of the
offence alleged to have been committed by him.

(3) No complaint under sub-section

(1) shall be made by the Public Prosecutor except with the previous
sanction,—
(a) in the case of the President or the Prime Minister or a Governor, or any Secretary to the
Government authorised by him in this behalf;
(b) in the case of a Federal Minister or Minister of State, Chief Minister or Provincial Minister, of
any Secretary to the Government authorised in this behalf by the Government concerned;
(c) in the case of any public servant employed in connection with the affairs of the Federation or of
a Province, of the Government concerned.

(4) No Court of Session shall take cognizance of an offence under sub-section

(1), unless the complaint
is made within six months from the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed.

(5) When the Court of Session takes cognizance of an offence under sub-section

(1), then,
notwithstanding anything contained in this Code, the Court of Session shall try the case without the aid of a
jury or assessors and in trying the case shall follow the procedure prescribed for the trial by Magistrates of
warrant cases instituted otherwise than on a police report.

(6) The provisions of this section shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, those of section 198.]

Source and verification

Source citation: CrPC (Act V of 1898) s.198A: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE' (Act No. V of 1898, last amended 2017-02-16), p. 99, ingested 2026-09-15. Automated transcription from official source (pypdf extraction, audited artifact repair); human admin re-check required before production.

Verification status: verified · Text status: auto_transcribed_verified_source

The record cites an official source, but its transcription is automated or only partly checked; a human re-check is pending.

Official Urdu text status: pending_official_urdu_text. Where official Urdu wording has not been sourced, Qanoon does not substitute an unverified translation for the statutory text.

Historical text notes

1 historical record is linked to this section. Historical wording may be incomplete or pending verification; it is not presented as current law.

• Date not confirmed: Consolidated current text as published in the official Pakistan Code PDF (p. 99) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment version…

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