Singer-actor Ali Zafar’s defamation case against fellow musician Meesha Shafi still lingers on in court following a no-show from the latter and her alleged witnesses on multiple occasions. Shafi has reportedly shifted to Canada with her family members. Referring to this, the Channo singer has now offered to cover all the expenses of Shafi’s travel from Canada to Pakistan, for her to appear in the sessions court Lahore. Zafar made the said offer through his legal counsel in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Yasar Hayat. During the hearing, one of Shafi’s counsel members Saqib Jillani, informed the court that his client was available for cross examination on video conferencing application Zoom from Canada.
However, Zafar’s lawyer Umer Tariq Gill raised the objection that none of Shafi’s witnesses were physically present in the court either. He added that the evidence of the defendant cannot be recorded through Skype or Zoom without complying to the pre-requisite laid down by the apex courts. While Shafi, her legal counsel and alleged witnesses have time and again failed to appear before the court and record their testimonies, she is now being demanded to produce her witnesses without any further delay. The next hearing is scheduled for Saturday, November 17, 2020. Many Twitter users lauded Zafar for his monetary offer to Shafi. He responded with, “bhaeehazirhai.”
#bhaeehazirhai https://t.co/r5KROSSyK3
— Ali Zafar (@AliZafarsays) November 9, 2020
Earlier, the FIA Cyber Crime Wing registered an FIR against Shafi, Iffat Omar, Leena Ghani, Fariha Ayub, Maham Javaid, Ali Gul Pir, Haseemuz Zaman Khan, Humna Raza and Syed Faizan Raza for their alleged involvement in the vilification of Zafar. Raza eventually issued a public apology, with Zafar’s legal team arguing that it was not due to any external pressure nor a blatant attempt on their client’s part to silent the witnesses. Zafar’s lawyers stated that there was no need to “summon her through the process of court” if she was willing to appear before the court and record her statement in the first place, arguing it just shows that she many others were not asked for consent before their names were filed as the defendant’s (Shafi) witnesses. For this reason, the Teefa in Trouble actor’s legal team maintained that Shafi was filing a “false and frivolous application” in response to the FIR and trying to further stay the proceedings in the titled suit.