ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will hear on May 9 an appeal filed by singer and actress Meesha Shafi against the Lahore High Court (LHC) decision in a case of sexual harassment allegedly by singer and actor Ali Zafar.

A three-member bench comprising Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Yahya Afridi will hear the appeal.

Ms Shafi has filed the petition against the rejection of her petition by the LHC to have the statements of Mr Zafar’s witnesses recorded and their cross-examination conducted in separate hearings.

Ms Shafi, who is fighting a defamation case filed by Mr Zafar over allegations of sexual harassment, had earlier approached a trial court and later the high court, noting that failure to conduct the witnesses’ testimonies and their cross-examination in separate hearings “would be amounting to extending undue favour to the plaintiff”.

She had also stated that “cross-examining witnesses on the basis of their statements only and without knowing them would be impossible”.

Both courts had turned down Ms Shafi’s petitions, with the LHC adding that the request was “devoid of any merit” as the defendant was cognizant of the witnesses’ names and has had reasonable time to prepare for cross-examination.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2019