Lawyer sues Monal for Rs3 million

Claims delay in receiving food caused mental agony, embarrassment

ISLAMABAD: A Rawalpindi-based lawyer has taken a popular Islamabad eatery to court after a delay in preparing her order caused her “mental agony” and “embarrassment”.

Hina Noman – the petitioner – has claimed that the staff at Monal Restaurant in Pir Sohawa misbehaved with her and harassed her after she protested against the delay in preparing her order. She has demanded Rs3 million in damages from the restaurant.



Noman had taken her children and other guests to the restaurant on April 13 earlier this year. In her petition, she wrote that she placed an order for a “Special Grill family deal which includes rice and barbecue”.

Noman claimed that her table had to wait for more than an hour until they were finally served, and even then they got the wrong order.

In her complaint, submitted to an Islamabad consumer court, the petitioner claimed that when she protested against the delay, the restaurant staff misbehaved with her and harassed her. “This caused mental agony and embarrassment for me before my family, guests and other visitors,” she said.

She told The Express Tribune that the restaurant’s manager refused to disclose his name to her and concealed his name plate with his hand.



In the complaint, the petitioner has accused the restaurant staff of mental torture, harassment, rude behavior and humiliation, and has demanded Rs3 million in damages.

The court has issued a notice to the restaurant’s management and directed them to submit a reply.

Jamshed Ali Khan, counsel for the restaurant, denied the petitioner’s allegations. Khan further asked why she paid the bill if the waiters did not bring her what she had ordered.

Noman, however, conceded that she had partially eaten the dinner. However, she had thereafter demanded a receipt of payment as evidence and produced it in court.

Khan argued that his client had not been served a legal notice before the complaint was filed. The petition, however, says that a legal notice was sent but was returned, ostensibly due to the “wrong address”.

The restaurant administration has yet to submit a formal reply.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2016.