A sessions court sided with Ali Zafar in a big defamation fight, saying Meesha Shafi couldn’t back up her harassment claims against him.
In a hefty 155-page ruling, Additional Sessions Judge Asif Hayat laid it out: the proof was all on Shafi since she went public with the accusations. She just didn’t have enough to make it stick.
The decision hammered home a basic rule—in defamation suits, the one throwing accusations has to prove they’re true, not the other way around.
The judge shot down Shafi’s argument that her tweet and interviews were for the public good. Court said they didn’t help anyone and just trashed Zafar’s name.
It also pointed out that big-name folks blasting claims on open platforms like social media gotta double-check and prove ’em first.
So, the statements got labeled defamatory. Shafi has to pay Zafar Rs 5 million in damages.
On top of that, she’s banned from repeating the claims anywhere, direct or sneaky, on any outlet.
“The plaintiff’s reputation was significantly harmed by these unsubstantiated claims. Since the defendant chose to make these allegations on a public level for ‘the public good,’ the burden of proving them true lay solely with her.” — Statement from the Detailed Decision
This ruling’s a game-changer for how Pakistan handles defamation and celeb accusations in court.
