The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday suspended the order directing Meesha Shafi to pay Rs5 million in damages to Ali Zafar following a session courts’ verdict against the former in a defamation case linked to sexual harassment allegations. In March, a sessions court in Lahore had announced its verdict in a defamation case filed by singer Zafar against Shafi, ordering the latter to pay Rs5 million in damages.
Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad heard Shafi’s appeal challenging the sessions court’s decision, which had awarded Rs5 million in damages to Zafar in the defamation suit filed over the allegations. The court directed Shafi to deposit half of the damages amount in cash with the court and to submit surety for the remaining half, while suspending the immediate transfer of the amount to Zafar.
The bench also issued a notice to Zafar, seeking his response on Shafi’s appeal against the sessions court verdict and adjourned further proceedings pending replies.
During the hearing, Shafi’s counsel requested that the entire trial court verdict be suspended; however, the court rejected the plea, declining to grant a blanket stay on the decision.
However, the court refused to interfere with the portion of the trial court’s ruling, restricting Shafi from repeating the sexual harassment allegations.
The court stated that this part of the decision could not be suspended at this stage. It further remarked that no one could be allowed to level sexual harassment allegations.
Zafar had filed a defamation suit in 2018 seeking Rs1 billion in damages after Shafi accused him of sexual harassment – allegations he consistently denied.