LAHORE: Singer Ali Zafar won his defamation case on Tuesday as a sessions court in Lahore directed Meesha Shafi to pay Rs5 million in damages.
Additional Sessions Judge Asif Hayat delivered the reserved judgement, bringing to a close the high-profile case.
Zafar had filed a defamation suit in 2018 seeking Rs1 billion in damages after Shafi accused him of sexual harassment — allegations he consistently denied.
The suit was filed under the Defamation Ordinance 2002. In the notice, the singer claimed Shafi damaged his reputation through false allegations of sexual harassment.
In a two-page short verdict, the court declared Shafi's tweet dated April 19, 2018, and her April 21 interview "false, defamatory and injurious imputations" against Zafar, "whereby allegations of sexual harassment of a physical nature were levelled, which have not been proved to be true or made for public good, and thus constitute actionable defamation."
It also read: "The plaintiff is held entitled to compensatory damages on account of injury to reputation, dignity and mental anguish.
"However, the claim of special damages has not been proved through cogent and reliable evidence. Accordingly, a sum of Rs5,000,000/- (Rupees five Million) is awarded to the plaintiff as general damages only, recoverable from the defendant."
The sessions court also barred Shafi from posting tweets related to the harassment allegations.
The verdict read: "The defendant is further permanently restrained from repeating, publishing, or causing to be published, directly or indirectly, the aforesaid defamatory allegations of sexual harassment of a physical nature against the plaintiff, in any form of media, including print, electronic or social media."
The judge directed the parties to appear before the court on May 4 to pay the compensation amount.
Zafar was represented by lawyer Umar Tariq Gill, while Shafi was represented by lawyer Saqib Jilani.
During the court proceedings, statements of 20 witnesses were recorded during the trial. The case spanned 284 hearings and saw the transfer of nine judges over the course of litigation.
Following the judgment, Zafar's lawyer said that matters will become clearer after the detailed verdict is released.
Meanwhile, Shafi's lawyer told the media that the sessions court's verdict will be challenged in the high court. "We are currently reviewing the certified copy of the verdict," he added.
This trial court's ruling came after Lahore High Court's (LHC) order issued in January to decide the defamation suit within a period of 30 days.
LHC's Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad announced the verdict on a petition filed by Shafi challenging a trial court order dated January 24, 2019, which directed her to refrain from issuing statements against Zafar across all media platforms, including social media.
The court upheld the trial court’s ruling, saying: "The impugned order is a well-reasoned order based on sound legal principles and does not warrant interference by this court."
In April 2018, Shafi had taken to Twitter, now X, to publicly accuse Zafar of physically harassing her on "more than one occasion".
