Educational institutions: SC orders authorities to ensure end to harassment
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has directed the Federal Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, the chief secretaries, and the secretaries of school and higher education of all provinces to ensure the elimination of sexual harassment in all public and private educational institutions.
A two-member bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, also directed the Supreme Court office to send copies of its judgment to the Federal Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, the chief secretaries and provincial education secretaries, as well as the Federal Ombudsperson and provincial ombudsmen.
The court instructed them to take effective measures to ensure the strict implementation of the Code of Conduct under the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010.
It also directed the federal and provincial ministries of education to issue an office order/circular to all persons in command of government and private educational institutions for displaying a copy of the Code of Conduct for Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace in English and other vernacular languages at a conspicuous place.
The court said that the federal and provincial education ministries to pass directions to all the government and the private educational institutions to constitute an in-house inquiry committee as mandated in the law in every government and private educational institution to deal with the cases of harassment so that an aggrieved lady teacher may submit her complaint promptly and directly to the inquiry committee rather than wholly and solely dependent upon mercy and hoping action by the head of institution on such complaint.
The short and snappy facts of the case are that the respondent (Shahzia Iqbal) was serving as Principal at Government Special Education Centre, Lyalpur Town, Faisalabad. She was issued a show-cause notice and statement of allegations under the provisions of the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability Act 2026, stating that she allowed a male Special Therapist to live in a room of the Centre.
She was accused of being the In-charge and Supervisory Officer, failing to perform her duties efficiently and diligently, and committing grave negligence, and as a result, the Speech Therapist was in the habit of molesting the female teachers by blackmailing them, forcefully inducing them to have illicit relations with him, which affected the atmosphere of the institution badly. However, the respondent never reported to the high-ups about the ill-happening committed by the Speech Therapist in the institution.
The competent authority punished forfeiture of past service for a period of five years. The Tribunal on the service appeal of the respondent reduced the penalty of forfeiture of past service from five years to one year. The department therefore challenged the Tribunal’s decision before the apex court.
The SC judgment said that the Tribunal ought to examine the inquiry report and findings to ensure substantial justice, which can be possible after vetting the entire material on the record for awarding the clean chit or confirming or reducing the penalty.
It said, lamentably, the Tribunal in the instant matter failed to fathom out that the allegations were of a serious nature, adding that the regular inquiry was conducted properly, and female teachers appeared and deposed against the respondent.
The Court noted, “If such gratuitous leniency is shown in obnoxious and repulsive matters, it will amount to lending a licence to take up again similar acts in the future without any deterrence or trepidation.”
The judgment said that there was no justification apparently available to the Tribunal to modify the quantum of punishment awarded by the competent authority in this case. It, therefore, allowed the Punjab Education Department’s petition and set aside the Tribunal’s impugned order dated 08-12-2023.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026