President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday dismissed a false workplace harassment complaint against the Director General of the National Assembly Secretariat (NAS) by a female employee, saying that no one was allowed to abuse the process of law.
He observed that the female employee could not prove the charges of harassment at the workplace against the accused, that she failed to appear in the proceedings of the case despite several notices and that she had been found to be a non-punctual employee by the Internal Harassment Committee of the NAS. The President gave this decision while deciding upon a representation filed by a female Assistant Director at the National Assembly Secretariat (NAS) who had filed a workplace harassment complaint against a Director General of the NAS (the accused) before the Federal Ombudsman for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace (FOSPAH).
The Ombudsman had referred her complaint to the Internal Harassment Committee of the National Assembly Secretariat vide its order dated 04.12.2019 to conduct an inquiry and submit a report. The complainant assailed the order by filing a representation with the President contending that an employee had the option to prefer a complaint either to the Ombudsman or the inquiry committee and the complainant had exercised the option of preferring the complaint to the Ombudsman who had not been vested with any power to refer the complaint to the inquiry committee of the National Assembly once the option had been exercised by the complainant.
The representation was rejected by the President on 30.06.2020 with the observation that the complainant would have a fair and unhindered opportunity of proving allegations before the Inquiry Committee.
