The Lahore High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Punjab government, Hockey Federation and others for January 12 in a petition of a woman hockey player Sadia Nawazish seeking appointment of provincial ombudsperson. The petitioner through her counsel Rabiya Bajwa submitted that she was expelled from the national hockey team after she lodged a sexual harassment complaint with the provincial ombudsperson against head coach Saeed Khan. She said office of the ombudsperson was established under a special law but the post had been lying vacant for a year. She told the court that unavailability of the ombudsperson had deprived her of her right to be treated in accordance with the law.

The petitioner stated that an inquiry committee was constituted to conduct the inquiry, but no proper or formal inquiry was conducted to establish the facts of the case. She said the Pakistan Hockey Federation was pressurizing her to withdraw her complaint. Sadia said another player, Iqra Javed, was also dropped from the team and she also approached the ombudsperson for relief but the post was vacant. She argued that not only she but many other aggrieved women are worried over vacant post of the ombudsperson. The petitioner asked the court to order the government to immediately fill the post. She also asked the court to bar the respondents from taking any detrimental action against the petitioner till final disposal of her complaint.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2018