Lahore Sessions Court has granted bail to actress Effat Omar in a case filed against singer and actor Ali Zafar for alleged involvement in a vicious campaign on social media.
The Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) cybercrime wing had on September 28 registered a case against singer Mesha Shafi and eight others for alleged involvement in a nefarious campaign against Ali Zafar.
Mesha Shafi, actress and host Efat Umar, Lena Ghani, Fareeha Ayub, Mahim Javed, Ali Gul, Hazeem-uz-Zaman Khan A case has been registered against Hamna Raza and Syed Faizan Raza.
Additional Sessions Judge Hamid Hussain granted bail to actress Effat Omar in exchange for bail bonds of Rs 50,000.
At the same time, the Lahore Sessions Court restrained the FIA from arresting Effat Omar until October 12.
The court also sought a complete record of the case filed against the actress from the Federal Investigation Agency at the next hearing.
It may be recalled that in November 2018, Ali Zafar had lodged a complaint with the FIA Cyber Crime Wing in which he alleged that several social media accounts were posting 'insulting and threatening material' against him.
He also provided details of his Twitter and Facebook accounts in support of his claim.
Ali Zafar had alleged that in April 2018, weeks before Mesha Shafi's allegations of sexual harassment, several fake accounts had launched a vicious campaign against the singer.
The singer and actor had said that most of the fake accounts were allegedly linked to Mesha Shafi.
He had told the FIA with documentary 'evidence' that a Twitter account named 'Nehasaigol1 ne) made 3,000 insulting tweets against me and my family in a year while this account was Mesha Shafi Was made 50 days before the allegations of sexual harassment.
In December 2019, Mesha Shafi appeared in the FI with her team of lawyers.
The FIR states that Mesha Shafi failed to produce any witnesses in support of her (sexual harassment) allegations against Zafar.
According to the FIR, Lena Ghani was also summoned but she did not appear and sent a written reply on which dissatisfaction was expressed.
It was further alleged that Lena Ghani was involved in posting insulting material against the complainant on Twitter on April 19, 2018.
According to the FIR, Fareeha Ayub and Mahim Javed were also summoned four times but they did not join the inquiry.
Actress and host Efat Omar appeared in the FIA Cyber Crime Wing but did not record her statement and asked for time but despite several requests, she did not record her statement.
According to the FIR, Ali Gul had also posted insulting statements against Ali Zafar.
He was summoned three times but deliberately did not appear and submitted his statement to the FIA in Karachi.
According to the FIR, Ali Gul's statement was unsatisfactory and did not meet the merits of the inquiry.
Similarly, Hamna Raza had also submitted her statement which was 'unsatisfactory'. According to the FIR, Haseem-ul-Zaman was also summoned four times but he also did not join the investigation.
According to the FIR, Syed Faizan Raza had recorded his statement in which he had said that the allegations leveled against Ali Zafar through tweets were 'based on public opinion'.
However, dissatisfaction was expressed over his statement.
Mesha Shafi's Ali Zafar accused of sexual harassment
It may be recalled that several people, especially women, started making allegations against Ali Zafar on social media after April 2018 when Mesha Shafi accused him of sexual harassment through a tweet post.
Ali Zafar had rejected Mesha Shafi's allegations and later filed a suit in the Lahore Sessions Court seeking Rs 1 billion in damages for making false allegations against the singer, which has been the subject of dozens of hearings.
The statements of Ali Zafar and his 11 witnesses have been completed in the Sessions Court and now the statements of Mesha Shafi's witnesses will be recorded. In the same case, Mesha Shafi and his mother actress Saba Hameed have also recorded their statements.
In the same court, Mesha Shafi has also filed a claim for Rs 2 billion damages against Ali Zafar, on which the court has stayed the hearing and ordered that Ali Zafar's compensation case will be decided first.
It should be noted that two of the women who accused Ali Zafar of harassment have also apologized, including a Twitter user named Sufi and a female blogger and social media activist Mahesh Ijaz.
According to the FIR, the suspects were repeatedly summoned by the FIA Cyber Crime Wing for their defense but action was initiated against them for not appearing.
