LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday suspended an order of Punjab ombudsperson about appointing a local commission to collect evidence and visit the place of an alleged occurrence of sexual harassment.

Justice Shahid Jamil Khan issued the order on a petition filed by Dr Dalia Mahmood of King Edward Medical University (KEMU) who is a complainant before the ombudsperson against the vice chancellor of the university. Ms Mahmood accused Prof Dr Khalid Masud Gondal, the vice chancellor, of causing sexual harassment to her at the workplace.

The ombudsperson appointed a local commission to inspect the evidence and the facts of the complaint after visiting the place of the alleged occurrence, which the woman challenged before the high court.

Her counsel Mian Dawood argued before the court that the ombudsperson appointed her legal consultant as a local commission and delegated her powers to him in violation of the mandate of “The Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010” and the principles of fair trial. He pointed out that sub-section 4 of section 10 of the Act empowered the ombudsperson only to enter any premises for the purpose of inspection or investigation.

He further said the impugned letter of the appointment of the local commission had been addressed to the KEMU VC, who was an accused in the complaint, giving an impression that the office of the ombudsperson was itself going to the accused to record his statement. He asked the court to set aside the impugned letter for being illegal.

Justice Khan suspended operation of the letter and sought replies from the respondents by Jan 26.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2021