LAHORE: Lahore sessions court on Saturday summoned singer Meesha Shafi in a defamation suit filed against her by singer-turned-actor Ali Zafar who she accused of sexual harassment in 2018.
Shafi, 39, ignited in April 2018 what many said was the country’s MeToo movement when she forwarded her claims against Zafar, 40, through a tweet. He denied the allegation and, in response, filed the suit against her and eight others, including model-turned-host Iffat Omar and social media famous Ali Gul Pir, for amplifying these claims online.
Zafar said that the “baseless” allegations tarnished his image in public while his family faced agony and pain. He asked the court to issue a decree against Shafi directing her to pay Rs1 billion as damages to him.
The accused were subsequently charged with criminal defamation. If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of up to three years in prison and an Rs1 million fine for defaming the singer-actor.
In a written order issued Saturday, Additional District and Sessions Judge Yasar Hayat summoned Shafi and her six witnesses to appear before the court.
The judge directed Shafi’s counsel to produce the singer and her witnesses in the next hearing “at any cost.”
In December, an inquiry of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) found Shafi and others guilty of running a smearing campaign against Zafar.
The FIA had in September booked the accused under section 20 (1) of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 and R/W 109-PPC.
