Meesha Shafi’s exemption plea in social media campaign case rejected
After the conclusion of arguments from both sides, the local court rejected Shafi’s plea and maintained the decision of the issuance of the arrest warrant against her.
LAHORE: A local court in Lahore has rejected singer Meesha Shafi’s plea for permanent exemption and appointment of a pleader in social media campaign case.
The judicial magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Virk gave the reserved verdict on Meesha Shafi’s plea seeking permanent exemption from her appearance in the hearing of a case related to running a social media campaign against singer Ali Zafar.
After the conclusion of arguments from both sides, the local court rejected Shafi’s plea and maintained the decision of the issuance of the arrest warrant against her.
Moreover, the court also thrashed the acquittal pleas of Ali Gul Pir and Leena Ghani.
The court summoned the accused on March 19 after announcing the verdict.
During the previous hearings, Shafi’s lawyer had pleaded with the court to give exemption from appearance in the hearing as she was present abroad besides seeking to appoint a pleader on her place.
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The court had also rejected the exemption plea of Mahim Javed. It may be noted here that the court had directed the accused to appear in the hearing after the submission of Rs50,000 surety bonds.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had presented a challan against Meesha Shafi and seven accused over the complaint of singer Ali Zafar for running sexual harassment campaign against him but they failed to provide any evidence in their defence.
In April 2018, singer and actor Meesha Shafi had made a statement on Twitter that Ali Zafar sexually harassed her on more than one occasion. Ali Zafar had filed a defamation suit against Shafi over the allegations.
