A court ruling has paved the way for the dismissal of the federal ombudsperson for protection against harassment of women at the workplace and told its office to place a copy of the judgement before the Supreme Judicial Council, which is to be treated as a case reference against ombudsperson under Section 5 of the 2013 Federal Ombudsman Institutional Reforms Act.
The ruling by the Lahore High Court on Tuesday stemmed from its objection to the insubordinate and obstinate conduct of Ombudsperson Yasmin Abbasi. The court said, "Section 5 of the Act reads ombudsman may be removed from the office through the Supreme Judicial Council on the grounds of being incapable of properly performing duties of his or her office by reason of physical or mental incapacity or found to have been guilty of misconduct."
After dealing with contempt proceedings against her, the court said the ombudsperson had defied its orders on several occasions by taking shelter behind a sub-constitutional legislation. "Her disobedient conduct, prima facie, attracts Section 5 of the 2013 Act which provides for the removal of an ombudsman," the judgement said. "The facts cut a sorry figure of the federal ombudsperson having repeatedly shown disrespect and defiance of the orders of a constitutional court with impunity. The ombudsperson stubbornly placed reliance on Section 18 of the 2013 Federal Ombudsman Institutional Reforms Act to show disobedience to the orders of the court.
The judgement went on to mention the Section 18 as being a sub-constitutional legislation and can never control or regulate the powers of the constitutional court under the constitution". "The court relied on two judgements by a full bench of the Lahore High Court. The stance by the ombudsperson upon Section 18 is hopelessly misconceived," it added.