A sessions court in Lahore has given musician and actor Meesha Shafi until August 13 to submit her reply in the defamation case filed against her by fellow artist Ali Zafar.

Additional Sessions Judge Shehzad Ahmed on Thursday ordered that the notice seeking Shafi's reply should be reissued as it has not been received. It should also be posted outside Shafi's residence, the court directed.

In a statement on Twitter on April 19, Shafi wrote: "I have been subjected, on more than one occasion, to sexual harassment of a physical nature at the hands of a colleague from my industry: Ali Zafar [...] It has been an extremely traumatic experience for me and my family [...] I feel betrayed by his behaviour and attitude and I know that I'm not alone."

Shortly after, Zafar had denied the allegations in a statement and sent a legal notice to Shafi, demanding that Shafi delete the tweet accusing him of harassment and issue an apology on Twitter.

Zafar then filed a defamation case against Shafi for damages worth Rs1 billion. The court, in its last hearing, had asked Shafi to submit a reply.