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Actor Mamya Shajaffar responded on Tuesday night to fellow actor Arslan Butt’s legal notice accusing her of defamation for making claims about his behaviour with her while working together with a Rs1 billion counter notice for harassment, defamation, intimidation and damages.

She shared a copy of the notice purportedly issued to Butt on her Instagram page, terming his legal notice dated May 22, “false, misconceived, mala fied, legally defective, and apparently issued with ulterior motives to pressurise, intimidate and silence my client after repeated acts of harassment committed by your client”. 

In his notice, Butt took issue with an interview in which Shajaffar described a costar’s behaviour while working on a project with her as having made her feel “uncomfortable”.

The notice referenced Shajaffar’s appearance on the YouTube show Say It All with Iffat Omar and claimed that she accused Butt of having “sexually harassed [her] on set”. In the interview, Shajaffar referred to the person solely as “Arsalan”. She later clarified on social media that she was not talking about Arslan Khan, her College Gate costar.

Butt’s connection to the incident is being attributed to Omar, the host, who purportedly said he was the one being discussed. Shajaffar’s interview with Omar was released on May 21. In it, the actor mentioned a number of instances in which “Arsalan’s” behaviour made her “feel uncomfortable” and that he believed she was “someone to get fresh or frank with”.

Butt’s notice described the allegations made by Shajaffar against “Arsalan” as “false, baseless, malicious and defamatory” and said they had caused “serious reputational damage, mental distress, humiliation and public embarrassment” to Butt.

The notice demanded Shajaffar “retract the allegations”, “take steps for the removal of the defamatory content”, “issue a clear, unconditional public apology and retraction” on YouTube and “refrain from repeating such allegations in the future”.

Her counter-notice denies the allegations made in Butt’s notice, “except what is specifically admitted herein”. “It is clarified that my client never made any false, fabricated or malicious allegation against your client. Whatever was stated by my client during the said interview/programme was based upon true events, actual conduct, personal experiences, surrounding circumstances and information supported through evidence, witnesses and electronic material presently in possession of my client. Your client is fully aware of his conduct and the repeated acts committed by him towards my client on various occasions,” reads Shajaffar’s notice. 

“The interview itself does not contain any direct or categorical statement alleging ‘sexual harassment’ in the specific manner falsely portrayed in your notice,” it read, saying that it “deliberately twists, exaggerates and misinterprets portions of the interview in an attempt to create unnecessary sensationalism and legal pressure”. 

Arguing that the interview reflects the actor’s “personal experiences and truthful disclosures” made by Shajaffar “in exercise of her lawful and constitutional right of expression and self-protection”, the notice calls Butt’s conduct “harassment, intimidation, emotional abuse and character targeting”.

“Instead of showing remorse and restraint, your client has now escalated the matter by issuing a threatening legal notice to a woman who merely disclosed her experiences publicly. Such conduct amounts to victim intimidation and an unlawful attempt to suppress disclosure of harassment-related conduct.”

According to the notice, Shajaffar possesses “substantial material, including but not limited to electronic evidence, digital communications and records, witness testimony, circumstantial and corroborative evidence and other supporting material which clearly establish the conduct, behaviour and repeated acts of harassment committed by [Butt] towards [Shajaffar] on multiple occasions”. 

The notice calls on Butt to immediately withdraw his notice, tender a “clear, unconditional and public apology” for “harassment, intimidation, reputational harm and malicious legal threats”, cease and desist from further harassment, intimidation, coercion, defamatory campaign or misrepresentation of the interview and Shajaffar’s statements, and pay compensation/damages amounting to Rs1 billion for reputational harm, mental agony, emotional distress, harassment, intimidation and damage.

Failure to comply within 14 days will result in civil, criminal and regulatory proceedings being filed under the Punjab Defamation Act, 2024, The Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010, sections relating to criminal intimidation, harassment, defamation and intimidation under applicable laws of Pakistan and other civil remedies available under Pakistani law.