The Sindh government’s women development department and the provincial police department have been working on introducing a simple application form to expedite the process of registering criminal cases on complaints of domestic violence against women.

Women Development Minister Syeda Shehla Raza announced this while addressing a seminar in connection with Human Rights Day, which is observed every year on December 10 across the globe.

Huqooq-e-Pakistan, a European Union-funded programme to promote human rights in the country, had organized the event that was also attended by women rights campaigner Anis Haroon and the chief minister’s special assistants Veerji Kohli and Syed Qasim Naveed.

Shehla said the women development department and the Sindh police have joined hands for the cause in order to act on the laws of the land meant to protect women’s rights in their true spirit.

She said that every relevant department of the provincial government has been using all the resources at their disposal to provide the utmost assistance to women facing violence or denial of their rights.

She also said that the criminal justice system of the country needs to be reformed in order to ensure swift justice to victims of gender-based violence.

The minister said that to safeguard women’s rights, the Sindh government has adopted a number of laws that have not only banned physical torture but also victimization through psychological, economic and social means.

She said her department has been working with senior police officers to ensure that the relevant sections of the law are invoked by the police while registering criminal cases to ensure stern punishment is meted out to people who commit violence against women.

In this regard, the station house officers (SHOs) and investigating officers (IOs) of the Sindh police are being properly informed about the laws related to women’s protection, she added.

Shehla said the women development department has been operating the 1094 helpline to provide free legal counseling and other assistance to women whose rights are denied. She said the Sindh government has also increased its budgetary allocation to provide legal assistance to affected women.

Posting of govt officers

The Sindh High Court has directed the chief secretary to ensure that the posting of a government employee or an officer should not be denied or delayed by the relevant department, and if representation with regard to the posting of an employee is filed with the secretary/head of the department, it must be decided within 15 days.

The direction came during a hearing of a petition of Shafiq Ahmed Shah, who moved the court against the denial of his appointment as director of the human resource department of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation.

The petitioner submitted that he was appointed director HRM of the KMC on October 6; however, despite the successful completion of the process of appointment and the issuance of the posting order, the administrator officer of the KMC did not allow him to join his duties. He said that he filed representation before the authority concerned, but no action had been taken thereon.

A division bench headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar, after hearing the arguments of the counsel, observed that it had now become a common practice that constitutional petitions were filed seeking postings or questioning transfers of government employees or officers.

The court observed that such pretty issues should not be brought before the court under Article 199 of the constitution and the secretary and the head of the department should be approached first in case the posting was denied or delayed after appointment or the employee was aggrieved by his transfer.

The court observed that once the process of recruitment/appointment is successfully completed by the candidates and appointment letters/orders are issued in their favor, the department concerned is duty-bound to ensure that such employees are appointed to the relevant post as soon as possible.

It further observed that any unreasonable delay by the department in the posting of the appointee would result not only in hardships for the appointee, but also lack of strength, output and efficiency in the department.

The court directed that in case of an unreasonable delay or failure on the part of department concerned in case of posting or if the employee is aggrieved by his transfer, the appointee or the employee as the case may be shall first approach the secretary/head of the department through an application/representation.

The secretary/head of the department shall then decide the matter strictly in accordance with the law within 15 days from date of receipt of such representation, the court and observed that in case the matter pertains to the transfer of an employee the application/representation shall be decided through a speaking order after providing an opportunity of hearing to the applicant employee.

The court also directed the office to not entertain any petition for posting or transfer unless a proper remedy is exhausted by the person approaching the court.

It directed the chief secretary to ensure that in future postings should not be denied or delayed by the department concerned and in any such event if the application/representation seeking posting is filed by the appointee with the secretary/head of the department, the same must be decide within 15 days strictly in accordance with the law.

The court issued notices to the chief secretary, the secretaries of all departments and the heads of the KMC, DMCs and others for compliance. It also directed the KMC administration to decide the representation of the petitioner and submit a compliance report.

Newspaper: The News, The Nation, The Express Tribune