Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplaces, Kashmala Tariq, has issued the orders for the dismissal of DG HR PEMRA, Haji Adam, from service after he was found guilty of sexually harassing a female subordinate.
The Ombudsperson has also directed Haji Adam to pay Rs. 2 million as a compensation to the victim.
Moreover, the Ombudsperson has also issued the orders for the demotion of the then spokesperson PEMRA, Fakhruddin Mughal, after he was found guilty of facilitating Haji Adam in approaching the victim.
The Ombudsperson has also directed Fakhruddin Mughal to Rs. 500,000 as a compensation to the victim.
The decision was announced under the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010 after both senior PEMRA officials failed to prove that the victim had falsely accused them.
Besides, the Ombudsperson has written a letter to Chairman PEMRA to install CCTV cameras in each room of the PEMRA headquarters to prevent similar incidents in the future and form an anti-harassment committee to investigate such acts.
According to details, the then DG HR PEMRA had sexually harassed a female employee on the premises of PEMRA headquarters in Islamabad in November 2019.
He tried to misuse his authority by forcing the female subordinate into giving sexual favors. However, his behavior turned rude towards her after she refused to fulfill his lustful desires.
The victim mustered the strength and filed a complaint against the incident in the office of Federal Ombudsperson in January 2020. Listing the petition for hearing a month later, the Ombudsperson suspended Haji Adam till the completion of the inquiry.
Haji Adam challenged his suspension at different levels, including the President’s Secretariat and Islamabad High Court (IHC), which caused an unnecessary delay in the timely completion of the case. However, all of his pleas challenging the Ombudsperson’s order were rejected straight away.
