Meesha’s plea against ombudsperson’s orders dismissed

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court Friday dismissed a petition filed by singer Meesha Shafi against rejection of her review appeal of the Ombudsperson’s orders in a harassment case.

The single bench comprising Justice Shahid Karim announced the verdict on Friday, which had been reserved after hearing the parties’ arguments on October 2.

Earlier, Advocate Hina Jillani, on behalf of Meesha Shafi, argued that Punjab Ombudsperson had earlier set aside Ms Shafi's complaint, wherein she made allegations of sexual harassment against singer and actor Ali Zafar, saying that she was never an employee of the alleged harasser.

She submitted that Punjab Governor also dismissed the review appeal against the Ombudsperson's order. She submitted that the governor and the Ombudsperson rejected the complaint/ appeal without understanding the spirit of the law. She submitted that Meesha Shafi was harassed by Ali Zafar at a workplace.

Advocate Ali Sibtain Fazli on behalf of Ali Zafar, submitted that the complaint and appeal were rejected as per law.

The Ombudsperson could hear cases regarding employee and the employer only, whereas Meesha was not an employee of Ali Zafar, he added.

Verdict reserved: A Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench Friday reserved verdict on appeals filed by convicts in murder case of Arif Ameer alias Tipu Truckanwala.

The bench headed by Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan reserved the verdict on appeals filed by Khurram Ejaz and Saeed Ahsan against their conviction after hearing detailed arguments of the parties.

Advocate Azam Nazir Tarar on behalf of the convicts argued that the trial court had handed down the punishment without fulfilling legal requirements in the case. He pleaded the court for setting aside the sentence of the convicts.

In 2011, an anti-terrorism court had handed down capital punishment to Khurram Ejaz for killing Tipu Truckanwala. In 2015, an anti-terrorism court sentenced Saeed Ahsan in Truckanwala's murder to 60 years in prison after prosecution claimed that Ahsan had aided the murder by providing arms and conveyance. Tipu Truckanwala was critically injured when assailants shot at him in the parking area of Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport in 2010. He was moved to hospital where he died.