A court in Lahore has ordered singer Meesha Shafi to pay Rs5 million in damages to Ali Zafar as the latter secures a favourable verdict in the defamation case stemming from 2018 sexual harassment allegations against him.

 

Last week, the lawyers for both the plaintiff and the defendant had concluded their arguments.

 

Advocate Umar Tariq Gill, on behalf of Zafar, had argued that Shafi had levelled false allegations, causing serious damage to his reputation.

 

He maintained that no one other than Shafi had ever accused Zafar of such conduct. He urged the court to allow the defamation suit and order the defendant to pay damages of Rs1bn to the plaintiff.

 

Advocate Saqib Jilani, who was representing Shafi, asked the court to dismiss the defamation suit with costs.

 

The case stemmed from Shafi’s April 2018 allegations on Twitter (now X) that Zafar had made multiple unwarranted sexual advances towards her, alleging “harassment of a physical nature”. 

 

The case went on to become one of Pakistan’s most high-profile public disputes in the wake of the global #MeToo movement, which witnessed widespread allegations of harassment and abuse across multiple industries worldwide.

 

At the time, both artists were prominent figures in Pakistan’s entertainment industry, with Shafi known for her acting and music career, including her Hollywood appearance in Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), while Zafar was also active in Bollywood alongside his career in Pakistan.

 

Zafar had denied the allegations shortly after and, in June 2018, filed a defamation suit against Shafi, seeking damages worth Rs1 billion, alleging that the accusations had damaged his reputation and career.

 

In response, Shafi had filed a complaint regarding the alleged harassment before a workplace ombudsperson. However, the complaint was dismissed on technical grounds, with the authority ruling that there was no employer-employee relationship between the two artists. 

 

In January 2019, a court imposed a gag order on Shafi, restraining her from making any statements that could be considered defamatory against Zafar while his defamation case was being heard.

 

Following the allegations, Shafi also faced intense backlash on social media, with sustained online criticism and abuse directed at her, including personal attacks and derogatory remarks.

 

Zafar’s defamation case continued to be heard over the following years, eventually leading to the latest court decision in which Shafi has been ordered to pay Rs5 million, marking a key development in the long-running legal battle.