Advocate Imaan Mazari has filed a complaint of harassment against Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Dogar. She approached the IHC’s anti-harassment committee and also filed a reference against him with the Supreme Judicial Council. In response to her complaint, Justice Imtiaz, acting as the ‘competent authority’ under the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010, accepted the complaint and formed an inquiry committee in consultation with her fellow judges.
A circular from Justice Imtiaz’s office stated that, as the competent authority, a committee comprising Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, and Justice Imtiaz herself had been formed to investigate the harassment complaints against the IHC judges. However, the court administration swiftly de-notified her as the competent authority, replacing her with Justice Inam Ameen Minhas.
According to court records, a similar committee was previously constituted in 2019 to investigate harassment allegations. A senior IHC official claimed that the harassment act is not applicable to judges, who can only be charged under Article 209 of the Constitution.
Reasons for the De-notification and Related Controversies Another reason provided for de-notifying Justice Imtiaz was that as the competent authority, she could not be part of the inquiry committee. Subsection 4 of section 4 of the Act states, “The Inquiry Committee shall submit its findings and recommendations to the Competent Authority within thirty days of the initiation of inquiry.”
This development follows a heated exchange last week between Ms. Mazari and Chief Justice Dogar during a case hearing. At that time, Justice Dogar warned Ms. Mazari of contempt and was reported to have made remarks about “getting hold of her,” to which she responded that she was only fulfilling her professional duty and was prepared to face contempt proceedings.
Separately, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has submitted a challan in the controversial tweet case against Ms. Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chatha, in the court of Senior Civil Judge Abbas Shah. The NCCIA had registered a case against them under cybercrime laws for alleged controversial tweets that authorities argue could incite unrest. The court has issued notices to the accused and has scheduled the next hearing for September 17.
