SC adjourns Meesha Shafi case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned until next week, hearing in a case relating to showbiz stars Meesha Shafi and Ali Zafar.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Mushir Alam and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsen and Justice Yahya Afridi heard the appeal filed by Meesha Shafi challenging the order of Lahore High Court, rejecting her plea for recording the statements of all witness at the same time and then cross-questioning them together.

During the course of hearing, Justice Ijazul Ahsen asked Barrister Haris Azmat, counsel for Meesha Shafi as under which law he is seeking remedy for recording the statements of all the witnesses together.

Justice Ahsen said that it is for the court to decide when the statements of witnesses would be recorded, adding that the statements could not be recorded according to the counsel’s wishes.

Justice Ijazul Ahsen inquired form the counsel as to how many years had he been practicing law, to which the counsel replied 11 years. In your 11 years of professional experience, have you ever seen all witness statements being recorded first and then cross-questioning taking place,” Justice Ahsen asked Meesha Shafi counsel.

The judge said that in his 30 years of experience, there was no precedent for this. Counsel however, contended that he could provide several views from court decisions and in several decisions, this was mentioned by courts.

At this Justice Ahsen replied that court decisions were not heavenly scriptures and they could be wrong. Counsel representing playback singer Ali Zafar informed the court that till now only one out of 11 witnesses had recorded his statement. Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing for next week.