KARACHI: The Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday that Syed Peer Ali Shah, the provincial ombudsman for protection against women harassment at workplaces, has been removed and an inquiry against him for allegedly misusing his authority and making illegal appointments is being carried out.
A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim, directed the Sindh government to appoint the provincial ombudsman within three weeks. It also directed the government to submit the inquiry report against the erstwhile ombudsman after completion of the inquiry.
The court was hearing the petition of Aneela Khan against Peer Ali Shah at the apex court’s Karachi registry.
During the previous hearing, the court had directed the authorities to place on record the summaries regarding appointment and subsequent extension of the tenure of Shah as the provincial ombudsman.
They were further instructed to appraise the court with details of the appointments made during his tenure and the list of the appointees who were said to be his relatives.
The judges asked the government to submit details of the grants disbursed to him so far and the amount spent by him and the cases that he decided in his tenure.
Aneela Khan had approached the court against the Provincial Ombudsman for allegedly coercing the aggrieved parties into negotiating compromises, particularly in the cases of sexual harassment at workplaces.
The court had converted the letter of Aneela Khan, addressed to the Supreme Court asking it to take notice of the alleged corrupt practices at the provincial ombudsman office, into a constitutional petition.
In her letter, Aneela submitted that the provincial ombudsman’s conduct in dealing with cases of sexual harassment was suspect as he was forcing compromises instead of bringing offenders to book.
“Syed Peer Ali Shah was appointed in 2012 and was given an extension because of his close intimacy with the former Sindh chief minister, which was illegal as there is no provision for such an extension of term in law,” she said.
“Being a woman it is my duty to bring it into your notice that the government is not concerned about the well-being of the people, especially women”, she told the judges.
Aneela alleged that Syed had made appointments in the ombudsman office on the basis of favoritism and nepotism. “He is involved in financial corruption and has established a ghost NGO that is run by his family members.”
She also told judges that the cases and complaints sent to him are solved by forcing the parties to comprise instead of punishing or imposing fines on offenders.
