Ali Zafar awarded in defamation case against Meesha Shafi

A Lahore court has ruled in favor of singer Ali Zafar in his defamation case against fellow singer Meesha Shafi. On Tuesday, the court ordered Shafi to pay Zafar 5 million rupees ($17,900) in damages.

In 2018, Shafi accused Zafar of sexual harassment on multiple occasions, sparking a high-profile #MeToo case in Pakistan. The court’s ruling states that two social media posts by Shafi and an interview she gave to a lifestyle magazine contained “false, defamatory, and injurious imputations” against Zafar.

The court found that Shafi’s allegations of sexual harassment had not been proved true or shown to be made for the public good. As a result, her statements constituted actionable defamation under Pakistani law. The court also ordered Shafi to be permanently restrained from repeating, publishing, or causing to be published any further defamatory allegations against Zafar.

Shafi’s lawyer, Nighat Dad, stated that an appeal will be filed to challenge the judgment on several grounds, including misreading and selective interpretation of evidence, failure to consider material evidence, and overlooking the legal context. The Supreme Court is still hearing Shafi’s sexual harassment complaint against Zafar.

In April 2018, Shafi posted a statement on social media accusing Zafar of sexually harassing her multiple times. She also referred to the global #MeToo movement by women and girls against sexual harassment and assault. Zafar responded immediately, denying any claims of harassment and stating that he would take the matter to court.

Shafi and Zafar were once friends and prominent figures in Pakistan’s entertainment industry. Shafi spoke about her allegations against Zafar during an interview with a lifestyle magazine in April 2018, stating that she had not publicly spoken about the harassment at the time it happened due to concerns about its impact on their public personas.

Several Pakistani celebrities and public figures expressed support for Shafi online after her social media posts. Other women also came forward to accuse Zafar of sexual harassment.

Source: Al Jazeera