Meesha Shafi moves court against plea dismissal

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday issued notices to ombudsperson (Protection against harassment of women at workplace) and the Punjab governor on a petition of singer Meesha Shafi challenging dismissal of her complaint against musician/actor Ali Zafar on harassment charges.

Barrister Ahmad Pansota appeared on behalf of female singer and argued that the ombudsperson dismissed the petitioner’s complaint on technical grounds and the governor also upheld the decision.

However, the Barrister Pansota argued that the contract letter with a production company was enough to establish that the harassment caused to the petitioner at the hands of the respondent was at the workplace.

The counsel stated that the ombudsperson in the impugned decision ruled that the petitioner had no locus standi (aggrieved party) to agitate the matter under the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2010.

He said the ombudsperson observed that the petitioner failed to establish employment relationship with the respondent (Zafar), therefore, the matter did not fall within the domain of the Act.

The counsel asked the court to set aside the impugned decisions and direct the ombudsperson to decide the complaint of the petitioner on merits. Justice Shahid Karim heard the initial arguments and issued notices to the respondents for Oct 4.

Ms Shafi had accused Ali Zafar of physical advances on more than one occasion and also sent him a legal notice in response to a Rs1 billion defamation notice served by the latter. She denied the assertions of Zafar and stuck to her allegations of “sexual harassment” against him. A damages suit filed by Zafar against Shafi is also pending adjudication before a sessions court.