Meesha Shafi’s lawyers respond to Ali Zafar’s legal notice, ask him to issue an apology

A couple of weeks ago, musician/actor Ali Zafar's legal counsel had sent singer Meesha Shafi a Rs100 crore defamation notice for the sexual harassment allegations she made against him on Twitter.

Now, Shafi's legal team has responded to the notice with one of their own, a copy of which is available with Images.

Signed by four High Court lawyers, Shafi's legal team on the onset says that "we categorically deny all allegations, assertions and/or insinuation made in your notice against our client, all of which are legally and factually incorrect...The Notice is hence rejected it in its entirety."

The document starts off with listing Shafi's credentials and goes on to explain how her allegations do not qualify as defamation because well, they're all true. The notice then highlights what is sexual harassment in the eyes of the law and how Zafar can be penalised using 2(h) of Protection against Harassment of Women in the Workplace 2010 as well as the Pakistan Penal Code 1860.

According to the statement, Meesha strongly denies that she defamed Zafar and that this is just being used by him to conceal his "predatory behaviour". The paper also mentions that many other women have since come forward accusing Ali of similar "shameful conduct" and that due to the vicious slander campaign he's initiated, Meesha's family life has been majorly disturbed and she had to deactivate her social media accounts.

Lastly, Shafi's legal counsel is asking that Zafar issue an apology for "the wrongs he committed against women" and that it is a demand which will not impact Shafi's right to initiate civil or criminal proceedings in the future.

Ali Zafar or his team are yet to respond.

This is a developing story and will be updated accordingly.