Claim: A video shows Ali Zafar’s mother and wife celebrating his recent court victory against Meesha Shafi in a defamation lawsuit.
Fact: The video is old and does not show Ali Zafar celebrating his recent win against Meesha Shafi.
On 1 April 2026, an Instagram page named ‘HideSide Magazine’ shared a video (archive) of singer Ali Zafar being welcomed amid celebrations by his mother, Dr Kanwal Ameen, and his wife, Ayesha Fazli.
The clip starts with a visual of Ali Zafar’s mother embracing him. He is seen wearing a bunch of garlands, with drums playing in the background. Then Fazli and another friend adorn Zafar with more garlands as he smiles among a crowd that is filming, and welcoming him.
The text block on the video reads: “Ali Zafar’s mother and wife are celebrating his court victory, welcoming him with drums and flowers.”
The post’s caption said:
“The case between #AliZafar and #MeeshaShafi, which had been ongoing for eight years, was decided in favor of Ali Zafar. The court has also imposed a fine of 5 million rupees on Meesha Shafi as a penalty. The verdict is currently making headlines, with many people questioning the decision, while Ali Zafar, along with his mother and wife, is celebrating the victory.”
Ali Zafar’s defamation case against Meesha Shafi
On 31 March 2026, a sessions court in Lahore ordered Pakistani artist Meesha Shafi to pay Ali Zafar, singer-cum-actor, five million rupees in damages. The decision came after Zafar filed a defamation lawsuit against Shafi for accusing him of sexual harassment.
On 19 April 2018, amid the global MeToo movement, Meesha Shafi took to X (formerly Twitter) and accused Zafar of sexual harassment. She shared a note recounting her experience, with the following caption, “Sharing this because I believe that by speaking out about my own experience of sexual harassment, I will break the culture of silence that permeates through our society. It is not easy to speak out.. but it is harder to stay silent. My conscience will not allow it anymore #MeToo.”
A part of the note read, “I have been subjected, on more than one occasion, to sexual harassment of physical nature at the hands of a colleague from my industry: Ali Zafar. These incidents did not happen when I was young, or just entering the industry. This happened to me despite the fact that I am an empowered, accomplished woman who is known for speaking her mind! This happened to me as a mother of two children.”
Meesha Shafi’s X post on 19 April 2018
On the same day, Zafar denied the allegations on his X account, stating:
“I categorically deny any and all claims of harassment lodged against me by Ms Shafi. I intend to take this through the courts of law, and to address this professionally and seriously rather than to lodge any allegations here, contesting personal vendettas on social media, and in turn disrespecting the movement, my family, the industry, and my fans.”
Ali Zafar’s X post on 19 April 2018
Shafi continued to speak up, and also detailed the account during an interview with The News’ magazine ‘Instep’ on 21 April 2018. She told the author that the first time “it happened,” she told her husband about it. The singer shared with the outlet, “I told my husband but also asked him to not react; I’m a public figure and so is he (Ali Zafar). My thought process was who I am and who he is and what that’s going to lead to. Being ready to talk was far off because it had just happened. I buried it.”
She recounted another time as well, when she and Zafar both were asked to perform at the same concert. “I was jamming with my band in Lahore and the organisers insisted that he was trying to get in touch. It started turning into a thing, and I was being seen as difficult or a diva, I got such feelers. I was avoiding him. I was asked to jam, figure out songs, scale and it happened while we were jamming.”
Later, on 25 April 2018, Zafar sent a Rs100 crore defamation notice to Shafi for the allegations she levelled against him. In the letter, he asked her to delete the tweet accusing him of sexual harassment, and to issue a public apology on X.
In its recent order, a sessions court in Lahore found that Shafi’s tweet, accusing Zafar of sexual harassment, and her interview with Instep, contained “false, defamatory, and injurious imputations against the plaintiff [Zafar].”
The order stated:
“The plaintiff is held entitled to compensatory damages on account of injury to reputation, dignity and mental anguish. However, the claim of special damages has not been proved through cogent and reliable evidence. Accordingly, a sum of Rs500,000 (Rupees Five Million) is awarded to the plaintiff as general damages only, recoverable from the defendant.”
The decree issued in Zafar’s defamation case against Shafi on 31 March 2026
Status of Meesha Shafi’s harassment case
Meesha Shafi’s lawyer, Nighat Dad, told Al-Jazeera that the legal team will challenge the verdict of the defamation case in the high court.
She also gave an update on Shafi’s original harassment complaint, saying, “Meesha Shafi’s original complaint of sexual harassment against Ali Zafar has been pending before the Supreme Court for several years now.”
On 1 August 2018, Shafi’s harassment claim got rejected by the Punjab Ombudsperson (Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace) on “technical grounds.” Her then lawyer, Ahmed Pansota told Images, “The complaint we filed with the ombudsman was rejected on a technical ground. According to the ombudsman, Meesha and Zafar did not have an employer-employee relationship, so the case could not be heard in that forum.”
Shafi then appealed to the Lahore High Court, challenging the ombudsperson’s decision to dismiss her complaint against Zafar, which was also rejected.
Later, on 11 January 2021, the Supreme Court approved Shafi’s plea against the decision of the LHC, meaning that the court agreed to decide whether her accusations against Zafar come under the workplace harassment law or not.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check looked through the Instagram accounts of Ali Zafar, Dr Kanwal, and Ayesha Fazli, but couldn’t find the video posted recently on their feeds.
The team also checked Zafar’s Facebook and X account, but could not find the clip among his recent posts either.
Zafar did share a note on his Instagram and X account on 2 April 2026 about the verdict in the defamation case against Shafi.
The post read: “Grateful to God and to everyone who stood by me, and by the truth during some testing times in my life. Justice has finally been done. I feel no triumph, only humility and gratitude. I hold no ill feelings towards everyone. For me, this chapter is now closed. I pray we can all move forward with grace and peace.”
Ali Zafar shares a note on his X account on 2 April 2026.
To locate the video, Soch Fact Check then conducted a keyword search of ‘Ali Zafar victory’ on Instagram. The results showed many pages and accounts sharing the video with the claim being fact-checked i.e that it shows the singer celebrating the recent court verdict. However, one of the results was an Instagram post from 2020.
Keyword search shows multiple results of recent posts
An Instagram page named ‘Jaago TV’ had shared the same video with a different caption, which read: “Very cute video of Ali Zafar’s mother and wife hugging him while surprising outside his home to congratulate him over the great success of his new song.”
While the original source of the video could not be traced, the fact that it was shared online as early as 23 December 2020 dismisses the claim that it is recent.
Virality
The clip was shared on Facebook here, here, here, and here.
It was shared on Instagram here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The video does not show Ali Zafar celebrating his win against Meesha Shafi in a defamation case. It was shared online as early as December 2020.