Lahore High Court on Wednesday reserved its ruling on an appeal filed by singer Meesha Shafi in a case of harassment filed by her against fellow artist Ali Zafar.
In the appeal, filed in August 2018, Shafi challenged the decision of the governor of Punjab to dismiss his complaint against Zafar, whom he accused of sexual harassment.
Judge Shahid Kareem reserved the verdict in the case after hearing the final arguments of Shafi and Zafar's lawyer.
Shafi initially filed a complaint accusing Zafar of harassment before the provincial ombudsman, who rejected it for technical reasons saying that she and Zafar "did not have an employer-employee relationship," the case could not be heard in that forum.
Examine: Why Meesha Shafi's sexual harassment complaint against Ali Zafar should not have been rejected
He then appealed the decision to the governor of Punjab, whom his legal team considered the competent authority to review the decisions made by the ombudsman.
However, the governor of Punjab confirmed the decision of the ombudsman in July 2018, dismissing his request for "technical reasons."
Subsequently, Shafi approached the LHC to challenge the governor's decision. On behalf of Shafi, lawyer Ahmed Pansota and Saqib Jilani told the court that the governor of Punjab had dismissed his client's appeal by confirming the view that the ombudsman's office was not the appropriate forum to hear such a complaint .
The lawyer argued that it was not a prerequisite for two parties to have an employer-employee relationship in a sexual harassment case, and that the provincial ombudsman could be approached with a complaint about sexual harassment in the workplace.
The petition asked the court to declare the governor's decision to dismiss Shafi's complaint invalid and order the proceedings against Zafar to be harassed.
On the other hand, Zafar's lawyer argued that the case was not subject to the law on workplace harassment.
No date was announced for the verdict.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1508586/lhc-reserves-verdict-on-meesha-shafis-appeal-in-harassment-case-against-ali-zafar