Ali Zafar wins defamation case; Meesha ordered to pay Rs5mn penalty

A Lahore court, while announcing the verdict in a defamation case filed by singer Ali Zafar, has ordered female singer Meesha Shafi to pay Rs5 million in damages, Aaj News reported on Tuesday.

The session court of Lahore, delivering the judgment in the defamation lawsuit on Tuesday, directed Meesha to pay the damages to Ali.

The short verdict was announced by Additional Sessions Judge Asif Hayat. This case had garnered significant attention within Pakistan’s showbiz industry and legal circles.

In 2018, Meesha had leveled allegations of sexual harassment against Ali. Following this, Ali filed a defamation claim against the female vocalist.

In the lawsuit filed in 2018, Ali took the stance that Meesha’s allegations of sexual harassment had damaged his public reputation, while his family also had to endure mental agony.

The petition had requested the court to order Meesha to pay Rs1 billion in damages.

During the proceedings of the case in about eight years, a total of nine judges were transferred and 284 hearings took place, after which the court finally announced the verdict in the case today.

It should be noted that Meesha had taken to Twitter in April 2018 to publicly accuse Ali of sexually harassing her on more than one occasion. Ali, on the other hand, categorically denied the allegations and took legal action against her.