LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday suspended the operation of a decision by the federal ombudsperson against harassment at workplace in a case pertaining to the dismissal of a senior flight steward of the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) for allegedly harassing an air hostess.

Justice Raza Qureshi heard the petition filed by flight steward Adnan Khan, challenging the orders of his dismissal passed by the federal ombudsperson.

Advocate Nabeel Javed Kahloon, the counsel for the petitioner, argued that the harassment allegations made by the PIA air hostess were baseless.

He stated that the federal ombudsperson ordered the dismissal of the petitioner along with a fine of Rs500,000.

The counsel contended that the office of the federal ombudsperson does not have the legal authority to directly pass such orders.

He claimed that the decision was one-sided as the petitioner was not provided an opportunity to cross examine the evidence on record.

He argued that the major penalty awarded to the petitioner was harsh, disproportionate and unwarranted.

The counsel also pointed out that an appeal against the federal ombudsperson’s decision was filed before the president, but it was dismissed without being heard.

He asked the court to set aside the impugned orders of the ombudsperson and the president, which are yet to be implemented, and reinstate the petitioner.

After hearing the arguments, the judge suspended the impugned decision of the ombudsperson subject to deposit of an amount of Rs500,000 by the petitioner with the deputy registrar (judicial) within one week. The judge sought replies from the respondents by Jan 22.

The air hostess had accused the petitioner of causing her sexual harassment on WhatsApp.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2025