LAHORE: A sessions court on Tuesday allowed a defamation suit of singer Ali Zafar and imposed a penalty of Rs 5 million on singer Mesha Shafi, rejecting her allegations of sexual harassment.
The court ruled that the allegations made against Ali Zafar could not be proved and imposed damages on Mesha Shafi. The counsel for Ali Zafar argued that the allegations of sexual harassment were baseless and had been made without any supporting evidence. He emphasised that not a single witness was produced to substantiate the claims and urged the court to award damages in favour of his client. The suit was filed by Ali Zafar in 2018 and sought damages worth Rs 1000 million maintaining that the allegations were false and had caused irreparable harm to his reputation, career, and public standing. The court recorded statements of 20 witnesses, including 13 presented by Ali Zafar and seven by Mesha Shafi. Mesha had filed a counter-defamation suit against Ali Zafar in 2019. She had also approached the Punjab Ombudsperson with a harassment complaint which was dismissed due to the absence of an employer-employee relationship.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026