Meesha gets Ali Zafar’s legal notice

LAHORE: Meesha Shafi on Wednesday received a legal notice sent by Ali Zafar’s counsel asking the singer-cum-actor to delete her tweet alleging harassment and issue an apology on Twitter, failing which he will file a Rs1 billion defamation case against her.

The letter, a copy of which is available with the Geo News, demanded Meesha to delete her tweet in which she alleged that Ali sexually harassed her on more than one occasion. The notice also sought “an apology using the same social media platform of Twitter proclaiming our client’s innocence.” “However, if you fail to delete the tweet and issue an apology within 14 days of receipt of the legal notice, we have definite instructions from our client to seek remedy for redressal of his grievance and claim damages to the tune of at least Rs 100 crore,” it added.

Meesha' legal team has dispelled the contents of the legal notice as “false”. "Meesha's allegations of sexual harassment against Ali Zafar are based on truth. Thus the issue of defamation does not arise," Barrister Muhammad Ahmad Pansota said.

Quoting Meesha's tweet in which she alleged harassment, the notice read: "That you have accused our client of repeated sexual harassment of a physical nature and through this accusation, you have made yourself part of the global #MeToo movement raising affinities and sympathies for yourself based on a lie and a defamatory campaign being spearheaded by you as a result of which all news channels, newspapers and social media platforms in the country and abroad are reaching conclusions about the character of our client."

The notice added: "That the fiction tweeted by you is actionable as libel as our client neither sexually harassed you nor had any intention of sexually harassing you. Your tweet has come as an absolute shock and brought dismay to his person, his family and millions and millions of his followers worldwide."