"It is a settled principle of law that the court shall not proceed with the trial of any subsequent suit in which the matter in issue is also directly and substantially in issue in a previously instituted suit between the same parties,” the petition said.
Earlier, Ali Zafar had filed a petition in the sessions court, asking for the verdict in Meesha Shafi’s defamation case against him to not be announced until his petition is decided.
In 2018, Meesha had accused Ali of harassing her "on more than two occasions". In response, Zafar had filed a defamation suit worth Rs1 billion against her. Then in September 2019, Meesha had filed a Rs2 billion damages suit against Ali for making false allegations against her on media.