Court rejects Meesha’s plea exemption from appearance
Renowned singer Meesha Shafi on Monday conceded rejection of her plea for exemption from personal appearance in a Lahore sessions court in the defamation case against singer Ali Zafar.
She has accused her male counterpart of sexual harassment. The sessions court also binned her appeal on the trial court decision which directed her to submit the bail bonds.
Sessions court judge Rai Muhammad Yaseen Shaheen noted in his verdict that neither the singer has ever appeared in the trial court, nor has she admitted the testimonies of the witnesses supporting her accusations.
Her charge sheet has yet to be prepared for her arraignment in the court, the judge said.
The court only extended her a one-day exemption from appearing in the court while directing her not to miss hearing next time. It ordered her to also submit bonds of bail as per trial court orders.
It is the prerogative of the trial court to order exemption from personal appearance in the case at any stage, the additional district and sessions judge said. There’s no lacuna in the judgment of the judicial magistrate, he noted.
The verdict read that the trial court had ordered Shafi to appear in the court on March 27 which she didn’t, in the case of running a vilification campaign on social media against Zafar.
Earlier this year, the Lahore court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for actor-host Iffat Omar and Ali Gul Pur in a defamation lawsuit filed by Ali Zafar against Meesha Shafi and others for levelling allegations of sexual harassment against him.
