ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed against a pardon granted to Pakistan State Oil (PSO) general manager Yousaf Ahmed Mirza after he was punished for workplace sexual harassment.

Mr Mirza was posted as PSO general manager in Karachi.

In October 2014, he sent a vulgar video message to the secretary to the PSO managing director, who in turn filed an official complaint against him.

A departmental inquiry committee sought an explanation from Mr Mirza, who apologised to the complainant and said the obscene communication was erroneously sent to her number and was not aimed at her.

The complainant accepted the apology and withdrew her complaint against Mr Mirza, but the inquiry committee continued disciplinary proceedings against him and finally recommended major punishment in the form of removal from service.

Mr Mirza then filed a representation before the PSO managing director, and another committee was constituted to investigate the matter.

The second committee also imposed compulsory retirement, but Mr Mirza argued that the second committee had condemned him without giving him an opportunity for a hearing.

However, PSO’s administration was of the view that Mr Mirza deserved exemplary punishment for sending a vulgar and obscene video to a colleague.

After he was sacked, Mr Mirza challenged the dismissal before the Federal Ombudsman, saying the PSO committee passed the order without affording him an opportunity for a hearing. The ombudsman, after hearing the parties and perusing the record, rejected his appeal.

The initial complainant in the case did not appear before the committee, as she had withdrawn her complaint after Mr Mirza’s apology. The case was taken further by the PSO management.

The matter then went to the president, who accepted Mr Mirza’s representation and set aside the previous orders, saying Mr Mirza deserved to be reinstated into service with all the consequential benefits.

“The President has been pleased to accept the representation of accused, set aside the impugned orders of the Ombudsman, the order of the department and recommendation of the committee, with direction to re-instate the accused into service with all consequential benefits,” read the President Secretariat’s May 20, 2016 order.

PSO then filed a petition in the IHC against the president’s order.

Representing the presidency, Deputy Attorney General Raja Khalid Mehmood argued before IHC Justice Aamer Farooq that the petitioner, the PSO, was not an aggrieved party and had no locus standi to file the case.

Mr Mehmood said the complainant had withdrawn her complaint and did not defend her case before any forum, such as the Federal Ombudsperson and President’s Secretariat. He said the petition was not maintainable, and argued that Mr Mirza, who is married with five children, was facing acute financial constraints because he was out of a job and had not received a salary for 17 months.

The court dismissed PSO’s petition following the arguments.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2017