The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday conditionally suspended a trial court verdict ordering singer Meesha Shafi to pay Rs5 million in defamation damages to singer and actor Ali Zafar, ordering her to instead pay Rs2.5 million in cash and submitting a surety bond for the remaining Rs2.5 million.
As per the details, a two-member bench led by Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad, with Justice Malik Waqar Haider Awan, heard Shafi’s appeal against the sessions court decision issued on March 31.
During the hearing, Shafi’s lawyer Saqib Jillani requested the court to suspend the judgment and offered to deposit one-third of the damages amount in cash. The bench first rejected the request and asked for the full amount.
After further arguments, the court directed Shafi to deposit Rs2.5 million in cash and submit a surety bond for the remaining Rs2.5 million. While the bench then suspended the trial court’s decision regarding the damages as interim relief, it ruled that the restriction barring Shafi from repeating her allegations against Zafar would remain in place.
The development comes after a sessions court in March ruled in favour of Zafar and ordered Shafi to pay Rs5 million in damages. The court held that her allegations did not serve the public interest.
Shafi had in 2018 accused Zafar of sexually harassing her on more than one occasion. Zafar had later filed a defamation case, stating that the allegations damaged his public image, and seeking Rs1 billion in damages.
