Musician Meesha Shafi has filed a defamation suit worth Rs2 billion against singer Ali Zafar for making false remarks on media that were damaging to her reputation and goodwill, according to a copy of the suit available with Geo.tv.
In the lawsuit, Meesha detailed that the damages worth Rs2 billion comprised Rs1 billion each for "loss of good will and reputation" and "mental torture and agony".
The singer further requested the court to permanently restrain Ali Zafar "from making any further defamatory statement" against her and to declare his statements against her to be "false, malicious and defamatory".
Read more: Meesha 'will go once court will direct her to' appear
The suit indicated that through his statements, Ali Zafar "falsely claimed and published that the Plaintiff is a liar and that she has made false sexual harassment allegations against the Defendant on 19th April 2018 just to get fame and recognition so as to get Canadian immigration".
Zafar "also claimed that Plaintiff wants to become Malala; thereby implying that Malala also fabricated a false story of assassination by Taliban to gain international recognition and immigration of a foreign country", it added, and noted that the case was "dismissed by the Ombudsperson on protection against sexual harassment and that he has been exonerated from all charges of sexual harassment".
Prominent instances, according to the suit, where Zafar made the defamatory statements included one on April 27, 2019, "while addressing the media" and on his Twitter account, as well as on three TV shows, including Geo News programme Naya Pakistan on April 28, 2019.
Zafar had repeatedly called for Meesha to present herself in the court, using the hashtag #FaceTheCourtMeeshaShafi on Twitter and saying her absence showed her "true intentions" and that "a smear campaign based on lies and fabrication" was initiated against him on social media.
Meesha's suit also included how the singer "has unfortunately been attacking the legal team of the plaintiff and has in particular targeted Ms. Nighat Dad, a leading rights activist internationally recognized for her work on protection of women against cyber harassment and bullying".
It is noteworthy that Meesha's legal team had sent a defamation notice to Zafar back in May 2019.
On the other hand, Zafar had already filed a defamation suit worth Rs1 billion against Meesha after she, in April 2018, accused him of physically harassing her on multiple occasions. Zafar had denied the allegations.
A day prior, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to stop harassing witnesses in the sexual harassment case filed by singer Meesha against Ali Zafar.
The LHC had further advised FIA officials to submit a response in this regard, following the petition filed by Leena Ghani, a make-up artist who is one of the witnesses in the harassment case against Ali Zafar.
The legal counsel for Leena, the petitioner, had moved the court, claiming the FIA official was "abusing his authority by summoning her to his office to coerce her to withdraw her name from the list of witnesses submitted by Meesha Shafi in the proceedings between" the two singers.