ISLAMABAD: After Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz took cognisance of a complaint, lodged by lawyer Imaan Mazari against Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar, the court administration stripped the judge of her powers to entertain harassment complaints.

Ms Mazari earlier approached the IHC’s anti-harassment committee, and also sent a reference against CJ Dogar to Supreme Judicial Council.

In response to her complaint, Justice Imtiaz, being the ‘competent authority’, not only entertained the complaint but also formed an inquiry committee in consultation with her fellow judges.

A circular from her office said that, being the competent authority under the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010, the inquiry committee comprising Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, and Justice Imtiaz has been formed to conduct an inquiry into the complaints of harassment against the IHC judges.

Imaan Mazari-Hazir also moves plaint before SJC

However, the court administration sw­iftly de-notified her as the competent au­­thority and replaced her with Justice Ina­­am Ameen Minhas.

As per the court record, a similar committee was already constituted in 2019, comprising the member inspection team (MIT), deputy and assistant registrars under the said act, in order to probe the allegations of harassment. A senior official of the IHC, however, claimed that the act was not applicable to judges as they could only be charged under Article 209 of the Constitution.

Another reason for de-notifying Justice Imtiaz was that being the competent authority, she could not be part of the inquiry committee. Subsection 4 of section 4 of the Act says, “The Inquiry Committee shall submit its findings and recommendations to the Competent Authority within thirty days of the initiation of inquiry.”

Last week, Ms Mazari and CJ Dogar had a heated exchange during the hearing of case. At the time, Justice Dogar had warned Ms Mazari of contempt and was reported to have passed warning remarks along the lines of “getting hold of her”. Ms Mazari said she was only fulfilling her professional duty and was ready to face contempt proceedings.

Separately, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) submitted a challan in the controversial tweet case against Ms Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chatha, in the court of Senior Civil Judge Abbas Shah.

The court has also issued notices to the accused and directed that copies of the challan be provided to them at the next hearing, scheduled for Sept 17.

The NCCIA had registered a case against them over alleged controversial tweets under cybercrime laws. Both accused are facing charges of violating online content regulations, which authorities argue could incite unrest.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2025