UK court rules in favour of Meesha Shafi in TV channel defamation case

LONDON: The UK High Court has delivered a verdict in the defamation case brought by Pakistani-Canadian pop star Meesha Shafi against New Vision TV (NVTV). The court found that the channel, in a December 2020 broadcast, had made defamatory statements against Shafi.

During a preliminary hearing, the court determined that the channel NVTV – the broadcaster of ARY UK – had defamed the celebrity by asserting that she intentionally failed to comply with court orders over two years. The broadcast portrayed Shafi as someone who repeatedly disregarded legal requirements set by the court.

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Turning to X, formerly Twitter, the singer wrote, “London High Court passes judgement in my favour against ARY after they aired disinformation, slandering me & misleading people to believe I am running from [Pakistan] courts because they decided I am a liar instead of fact checking”.

The court has set a deadline of January 26, 2024, for the channel to submit its defense.

The contentious broadcast, aired on December 5, 2020, presented reports by newsreaders and tickers as evidence. The court scrutinised statements such as, “She [Meesha Shafi] came to Pakistan, did her work and left. Singer Meesha Shafi threw the court orders to the winds. She came to Pakistan, recorded a song and then returned to Canada. She did not present herself in court. Ali Zafar has filed a defamation lawsuit against Meesha.”

Meesha Shafi, known for her #MeToo moment in Pakistan where she accused singer and actor Ali Zafar of physical sexual harassment in 2018, now faces a defamation case from Zafar. Despite her initial case being rejected on technical grounds, the Supreme Court in 2021 agreed to hear her allegations under the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act of 2010.