Daily Times

Pakistani actress and host Iffat Omar has been granted interim bail in a case pertaining to maligning singer, actor and model Ali Zafar on social media.

The development came days after Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had registered a case against Pakistani singer Meesha Shafi and others for launching hate campaign against Zafar on social media platforms.

Names of Leena Ghani, Haseem Azman, Iffat Omar, Hamna Raza, Maham, Ali Gull Pir, Fareeha Ayub and Faizan Raza were also included in the case that was filed under Protection of Electronic Media 2016.

The investigation agency told that on April 19, 2018, Meesha had accused Ali Zafar of sexual harassment. She appeared before FIA on December 3, 2019 but failed to present any witness.

Several fake social media accounts were also made to start MeToo campaign. Over 3000 posts were posted against Ali Zafar in one year, the agency told.

Earlier, Ali Zafar had filed defamation suit worth Rs1 billion against singer Meesha Shafi over hurling harassment allegations.

Zafar’s legal counsel Tariq Rahim lodged a petition in Lahore’s session court terming Meesha’s accusations as reckless and baseless.

Later, Pakistani singer Meesha Shafi also filed a Rs2 billion defamation suit against him in Lahore sessions court for making false allegations against her.

Sources told that the suit includes Rs1bn for hurting singer’s reputation while Rs1bn has been demanded for “mental torture and agony”. She also requested the court to declare Ali Zafar’s statements as false and defamatory.

“It is prayed that the defendant (Zafar) be permanently restrained from making any further defamatory statement against the plaintiff (Shafi),” the suit stated.