Supreme Court to hear Meesha Shafi's harassment appeal tomorrow

Singer Meesha Shafi, on Sunday, took to Twitter and shared that her sexual harassment appeal will be heard in Supreme Court on Monday. Shafi's case against fellow singer Ali Zafar was dismissed by the provincial ombudsperson over technical grounds. The Aaya Lariye singer had initially filed a complaint in 2018 accusing Zafar of harassment with the provincial ombudsperson, who had rejected it on technical grounds saying that as she and Zafar "did not have an employer-employee relationship", the case could not be heard in that forum.

Taking to Twitter, Shafi wrote, "Tomorrow, the Supreme Court of Pakistan hears my appeal on whether I, a ‘self-employed person’ have a right, as per the law, to be heard after being harassed and therefore expect justice on merit as an equal citizen."

She went on to add, "If ruled in my favour, this will be a landmark judgment in the history of Pakistan, determining those that are self-employed, as having the same rights to complain and seek justice as any other."

After her plea was dismissed in October 2019, Shafi then appealed against the decision before the Punjab governor, whom her legal team considered the competent authority to review any decisions made by the ombudsperson.

However, the Punjab governor upheld the ombudsperson's decision in July 2018, dismissing her request on "technical grounds". Shafi had subsequently approached the LHC to challenge the governor's decision.

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