LAHORE:A sessions court in Lahore on Tuesday awarded damages of Rs5 million to singer Ali Zafar in a long-running defamation case filed by fellow singer Meesha Shafi.
The verdict was delivered by Additional Sessions Judge Asif Hayat, finally concluding a high-profile case that had been pending in court for years.
The defamation suit was filed by Ali Zafar in 2018 after fellow singer Meesha Shafi accused him of sexual harassment in a public statement. Ali Zafar denied the allegations and filed a defamation suit, seeking Rs1 billion in damages, which was awarded in his favour on Tuesday.
Case Spanned Six Years and 284 Hearings
The trial involved serious legal activities. The lawyers took testimonies from 20 different witnesses, and the case involved 284 hearings. During this time, nine different judges were involved in the case as it went back and forth in different courts.
Both Ali Zafar and Meesha Shafi are known faces in the music industry of Pakistan. The case has been a topic of interest for a large number of people since the beginning, with many people showing interest in the case on social media and other news platforms.
Ali Zafar has already reacted to the decision, but no comments have been made by the legal team of Meesha Shafi on whether they will be taking the decision to a higher court.
This decision marks the conclusion of one of the most popular celebrity defamation cases in recent times. This decision will also lead to a lot of debate on the matter of defamation and harassment in the entertainment industry.
