IHC admits Dr Mazari’s petition for hearing

ISLAMABAD: Justice Athar Minallah of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) here on Monday after removing objections to the writ petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Information Secretary Dr Shireen Mazari that she had filed against alleged unethical remarks of Khawaja Asif, directed the office to fix this matter for hearing.

Dr Mazari in her petition had alleged that on June 8, 2016 during a scheduled National Assembly session, Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif made derogatory, defamatory, unwarranted and ill-founded remarks against her, which were a testament to his being a libertine.

The petitioner mentioned that Khawaja Asif while addressing the speaker made following remarks about her: First by saying: “ae tractor trolley nu we chup karwaoo zara” (ask this tractor trolley to shut her mouth) Secondly, “ghar in sae sambhalay nai jatae” (that she cannot manage her family) implying that she cannot manage her private affairs, so how she is capable of talking and representing the people of her constituency, and Thirdly, “Make her voice more feminine.” 

IHC registrar office had raised objections to this writ petition that court could not take up a matter related to the proceedings in the National Assembly. At which legal counsel for Dr Mazari, Barrister Shoaib Razzaq on Monday argued that this was a case of defamation. Respondent Khawaja Asif attacked the person of his client.

IHC bench removed the objections and ordered that the matter be fixed for hearing.  The petitioner cited Federal Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid, Minister for Defence, Water and Power Khawaja Asif, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs through its Minister Sheikh Aftab Ahmed as respondents.

 The petitioner contended that the said remarks were duly televised and were watched around the globe by millions of watchers and were still available on certain social media forums. That the aforesaid comments were wholly discriminatory and bigoted because the petitioner was specifically singled out on basis of her gender and such remarks were a malicious attempt to disparage her well-earned reputation. That the remarks made by Khawaja Asif were criminal in nature as he had defamed the petitioner which came under section 500 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 and had verbally harassed her which created a hostile working environment for her and thus came under the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010. 

The petitioner contended that she sent a legal notice to Khawaja Asif in reply to which he insulted her once again by verbosely explaining the attributes of a tractor trolley and as to how the said object emitted noise and then compared it to the noise which he was allegedly hearing on that particular day in the National Assembly.

The petitioner prayed to the court to pass an order where exception might be granted in Article 69 with regard to protection of women on the floor of the House. Under Article 69, parliamentary proceedings are protected and National Assembly Speaker may be directed to initiate disciplinary action and refer the matter to Election Commission of Pakistan for disqualification and suspension of Khawaja Asif.