President Alvi rejects suspect’s appeal in workplace sexual harassment case

ISLAMABAD – ISLAMABAD – President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday turned down an appeal filed by a suspect in a case related to sexual harassment at the workplace and directed the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat for Protection Against Harassment at Workplace (FOSPAH) for final adjudication after appraisal of the evidence.

The president held that the request of the accused to once again cross-examine the complainant after the engagement of a fresh counsel had no ground and, therefore, rejected his appeal.

The president endorsed Ombudsperson's observation that the appeal filing by the accused was an apparent attempt to prolong the impugned case indefinitely to enhance the anguish and agony of the complainant.

It was further observed that the matter had already consumed sufficient time in the disposal due to the accused's miscellaneous applications and was tantamount to starting a new round of litigation which prima facie was against the spirit and scheme of the Act 2010.

The President observed that the complainant who had filed a case of sexual harassment the Ombudsperson in 2019 had yet not been adjudicated. The accused had filed a representation before the President against the order of September 2021 for seeking permission to reexamine the complainant again by a fresh counsel which was rejected.