President Alvi rejects petition of woman harasser

ISLAMABAD, Dec 17 (SABAH): President Dr. Arif Alvi has rejected a petition of a former bank official seeking reinstatement into service on humanitarian grounds after the charges of harassment were proved against him and he was dismissed from the service by the bank. He had filed an appeal against the decision of the Federal Ombudsman for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace which had modified the punishment of “dismissal from service” into “removal from service”.

President Dr. Arif Alvi upheld the orders of the ombudsman noting that the petitioner was awarded the penalty of dismissal from service after inquiry wherein allegations of harassment stood established against him and the petitioner had failed to point out any illegality with the order of the learned ombudsman.

According to the background of the case, Naeem Iqbal was appointed as Bank Cashier Grade-1 at Bank Alfalah Ltd, on 01.02.2006, and he was later promoted to Operation Officer, Counter Services Manager and Branch Operation Manager in 2010, 2014 and 2016 respectively. Ms Habiba Rauf had filed a complaint before the management of the bank alleging acts of harassment against the accused. After inquiry, Naeem Iqbal was found guilty and, consequently, dismissed from the service by Bank Alfalah Ltd. After making a representation before the competent authority, he filed an appeal before the Woman Ombudsman who ordered that the appeal of the accused deserves outright dismissal, yet, on considering his long service and the fact that he has a large family, consisting of small kids and aged parents, leniency in punishment looks more appropriate and nearer to justice and fair play. The ombudsman, therefore, modified the punishment of “dismissal from service” into “removal from service” and disposed of his appeal.

Subsequently, Naeem Iqbal filed a representation with the President for reinstatement into service. While disposing of his appeal, the President noted that the petitioner was seeking setting aside of the order of the bank, dated 18.03.2019, and reinstatement into service purely on humanitarian grounds. The learned Ombudsman had already converted the penalty of dismissal to removal from service on such grounds. The President observed that since the petitioner had failed to point out any illegality with the order and no justification existed to interfere with the order of the Ombudsman, therefore, the instant representation is dismissed.