Harassment: Grade-18 officer reposted in violation of Peshawar High Court’s order

In 2011, court ordered transfer of official; home dept official says he will look into matter

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has reposted Mualim Jan, a grade-18 officer, as director at directorate of reclamation and probation of home and tribal affairs department. This has been done in violation of orders issued by the Peshawar High Court in 2011 to transfer him over charges of sexual harassment.

The previous government, following court order, had transferred Jan to another department and submitted a letter in the court, copy of which is available with The Express Tribune.

A handout issued by K-P directorate of information on September 9 stated that the officer has been reposted as director in the same department. He was serving as deputy secretary in inter-provincial coordination department.

However, Home and Tribal Affairs Department Secretary Munir Azam, when contacted by The Express Tribune, expressed ignorance over the matter, saying he would look into the matter after Eid holidays.

Meanwhile, an official of the home department confirmed Jan has been reposted as director in reclamation and probation department. However, the summary regarding his posting has not been sent to the establishment department.

While speaking to The Express Tribune, Adviser to Chief Minister on Information Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani said, “It is [sheer] negligence on the part of establishment department if he has been posted against the orders of the high court.”

He said the government is committed to implement court verdicts and will look into the matter if any orders of the court are disobeyed. He added the posting order of the officer might be issued by the department concerned who is unaware of the court judgments.

The backdrop

A female probation officer of R&P department submitted an application back in 2011 in PHC against director of the department, Mualim Jan, for alleged sexual harassment.

The application, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, has been converted by the court to a writ petition, whereas a notice was issued to the accused.

In the letter, the female probation officer alleged that Jan’s personal assistant had called her by saying she would have to accompany the director on his visit to DI Khan which she denied as the district was not within his jurisdiction.

The PHC, in its judgment issued on December 15, 2011, ordered the then government led by Awami National Party to transfer the official to another department owing to seriousness of the matter.

“[There were] serious allegations against the respondent [Jan], which were made by the female probation officer,” the judgment read. “Therefore, the departmental enquiry concluded and [handed him] a minor penalty, suggested by the enquiry committee/officer, so he should be immediately posted out and be entrusted some other job equal to his status and grade in another wing of the home department or in any other department where he can better serve the public,”



The court has also ordered, in its judgment,that a post of female deputy chief probation, payroll and reclamation officer with a proper pay scale and with well-defined powers to exclusively deal with and supervise the female probation officers should be created and no male officer of prison or probation department shall interact with female probation officers.

A departmental enquiry committee was also formulated to probe allegations against Jan. The report of the enquiry committee signed on October 3, 2011, recommended the accused officer’s scale [BPS-18] may be reduced by one stage.

In view of the enquiry report, the home secretary issued an order in November 2011, stating the competent authority (chief minister) after having considered the charges, material on record and report of the enquiry officer, reached the conclusion that the charges levelled against the accused officer have been proved.

“The chief minister has been pleased to impose the penalty of withholding three annual increments without cumulative effect on the accused officer,” the order stated. Another official in home department told The Express Tribune the officer removed from R&P department has time and again tried to be reposted in the same directorate as a director.

The establishment department was reluctant to repost the officer into the same department from where he was removed on PHC orders.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2016.