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Io! Alluh lovex thoxe who mulntuln juxtlce
(Surut l-hujurut)
he Foiumof Pakistan 0mbuusman was cieateu on 1Sth Apiil 2u11 to give vaiious the 0mbuusman
in Pakistan a common platfoim to shaie expeiiences anu chait the ioau aheau. This Woikshop,
Tuesigneu to examine the Challenges that the 0mbuusman office faces touay, is one of the most
impoitant initiatives of the Foium. All twelve 0mbuusman offices in Pakistan (anu A}&K) weie iepiesenteu
anu the Resouice Peisons maue piesentations anu answeieu questions fiom an auuience that incluueu
peisonnel fiom all 0mbuusman offices as well as fiom the meuia. The Chaiipeisons, Bi. Niia Phailbus,
}ustice (Retu.) Yasmin Abbasey ,Ni. Attaullah Khan Toiu, Ni. Asaf uhafooi anu }ustice (Retu.) Nuhammau
Nauii Khan who conuucteu the Woikshop pioceeuings aie all highly expeiienceu piofessionals anu
peifoimeu theii ioles with enthusiasm anu consummate skill. A consensus seems to have emeigeu that
0mbuusman offices face a numbei of challenges in the fiist quaitei of the 21st centuiy. These incluue,
maintaining efficiency at a time of fiscal constiaints by using legislation to empowei the 0mbuusman anu
technology to bettei ueal with an incieasing woikloau. Cateiing to the neeus of vulneiable membeis of
society, like women anu chiluien was anothei challenge. It was also iecognizeu that while efficiency is
necessaiy to offset the effects of fiscal constiaints, the ciitical minimumfinances neeueu to set up office anu
stait woik have to be maue available anu ways anu means must be founu to meet these vital iequiiements.
Political inteifeience in the woiking of 0mbuusman offices was anothei aiea of seiious concein that was
highlighteu. It was also a challenge to bettei pioject the 0mbuusman institution anu impiove the peoples'
unueistanuing of this impoitant office anu to oveicome a ueep seateu conseivative minuset that makes it
uifficult foi many people, especially women anu chiluien, tocomefoithwiththeii pioblems anu giievances.
It was obseiveu by the Foiumthat a iecoiu of the Woikshop pioceeuings shoulu be piesenteu to the
Inteinational 0mbuusman Institute anu othei stakeholueis incluuing all paiticipating 0mbuusmen offices,
the Woilu Bank, Islamabau in a Repoit that woulu be issueu within a month of the Woikshop. It gives me
gieat satisfaction tobeabletomeet this commitment. I hopethis Repoit will facilitateyoui unueistanuingof
theevolution of the0mbuusman offices in Pakistan.
I finally specially like to appieciate the haiu woik uone by Ni. Ahmeu 0wais Piizaua, Auvisoi
.
Abdur Rauf Cbaudbay
Piesiuent,
Foiumof Pakistan 0mbuusman
e
(Piojects) anu his team, Ni. Nuhammau Nunii Quieshi, Auvisoi (Income Tax) Lahoie 0ffice foi completion
of this iepoit in a shoit peiiou anu geneious assistance fiom Inteinational 0mbuusman Institute foi
oiganizingthis woikshop
I
Foreword
II
lnjustce ongwhere s o threot to justce evergwhere.
Mortn Luther Kng Jr.
III
Contents
Woikshop Piogiamme
Cbapter I
Inauguial Auuiess
Keynote Auuiess
Cbapter II
Piesentations by Resouice Peisons
Cbapter III
Analysis


Cbapter IV
Recommenuations
Annexuies (Case Law)
0mbuusman 0ffices in Pakistan
1
3
7
9
31
4
59
49
IV
Pictorial Climpses of
A Two-day worhsbop on "Cballenges of Umbudsmansbip"
1
Programme
First Day, 25tb September, 2013
S.No Activities
Time
From To
1
Registiation of paiticipants
u9:uuam u9:Suam
First Session cbaired by Hon'ble Mr. Abdur Rauf Cbaudbry
President, Forum of Pahistan Umbudsman
2 Talawat-e-Kalam-e-Pak u9:Suam u9:SSam
S
Piesiuent FP0's Inauguial Auuiess
u9:SSam u9:4Sam
4
Keynote Auuiess by Ni. Ejaz Ahmau Quieshi,
Feueial Secietaiy
u9:4Sam 1u:1Sam
S
TeaCoffee
1u:1Sam 1u:Suam
Second Session cbaired by Hon'ble Dr. Mira Pbalibus, Umbudsman for Protection against
Harassment of Women at Worhplace, Pun|ab
6
Resouice Peisons' Piesentations
1. Ni. Yasin Tahii, Senioi Auvisoi FT0 Secietaiiat
2. Ni. Saqib Aleem, Auuitional Secietaiy,
Feueial 0mbuusman Secietaiiat
S. QuestionAnswei Session
4. Concluuing Remaiks by the Chaiipeison
11:uuam
11:Suam
12:uuam
12:Supm
Lunch Bieak 7
uS:uupm
u1:1Spm
Tbird Session cbaired by Mr. Asaf Cbafoor, Secretary, Federal Tax Umbudsman Secretariat
9
Resouice Peisons' Piesentations
1. Ni. Faihat Saeeu, Senioi Auvisoi, Banking 0mbuusman
2. Ni. Nubashii Naeem, Biiectoi, Insuiance 0mbuusman
S. QuestionAnswei Session
4. Concluuing Remaiks by the Chaiipeison
u1:1Spm
u1:4Spm
u2:1Spm
u2:4Spm
u1:4Spm
u2:1Spm
u2:4Spm
uS:uupm
8
TeaCoffee uS:1Spm
1u:Suam
11:uuam
11:Suam
12:uunoon
12:Supm
2
Fourtb Session cbaired by Mr. )ustice {Retd] Mubammad Nadir Kban, Advisor, Federal
Tax Umbudsman Secretariat, Regional Uffice, Quetta
1u Resouice Peisons' Piesentations
1. Ni. Riaz Ahmeu, Secietaiy, Piovincial
0mbuusman, Balochistan
2. Ni.Atta-ui-Rehman, Auvisoi-II, Piovincial
0mbuusman Khybei Pakhtunkhwa
S. QuestionAnswei Session
4. Concluuing Remaiks by the Chaiipeison
uS:1Spm
uS:4Spm
u4:1Spm
u4:4Spm
uS:4Spm
u4:1Spm
u4:4Spm
uS:uupm
Second Day 2tb September, 2013
Fiftb Session cbaired by Hon'ble )ustice {Retd] Yasmin Abbasey, Federal Umbudsman
for Protection against Harassment of Women at Worhplace
11 Resouice Peisons' Piesentations
1. Bi. Niia Phalibus, 0mbuusman, Piotection against
Baiassment of Women at Woikplace, Punjab
2. Ni. Aziz Iqbal, Registiai, Feueial 0mbuusman Secietaiiat foi
Piotection against Baiassment of Women at Woikplace
S. QuestionAnswei Session
4. Concluuing Remaiks by the Chaiipeison
u9:Suam
1u:uuam
1u:Suam
11:uuam
1u:uuam
1u:Suam
11:uuam
11:1Sam
12
TeaCoffee
11:1Sam 11:Suam
Sixtb Session cbaired by Mr. Attaullab Kban Toru, Secretary,
Federal Umbudsman Secretariat, Islamabad
1S Resouice Peisons' Piesentations
1. Ni. NajamSaeeu, AuvisoiNembei Inchaige, Piovincial
0mbuusman , Punjab
2. Syeu Nuhammau Shujaat Ali, Consultant, Piovincial
0mbuusman, Sinuh
S. Ni. Absai Bussain, Biiectoi, 0mbuusman A}&K
4. Ni Saua Bussain Laiik, Consultant, Piovincial 0mbuusman foi the
Piotection against Baiassment of Women at Woikplace, Sinuh
S. QuestionAnswei Session
6. Concluuing iemaiks by the chaiipeison
7. Bistiibution of Ceitificates on behalf of Piesiuent, Foiumof
Pakistan 0mbuusman
11:Suam
12:uunoon
12:Suam
u1:uupm
u1:Supm
u1:4Spm
12:uunoon
12:Supm
u1:uupm
u1:Supm
u1:4Spm
u2:uupm
14
Lunch on behalf of Bon'ble Ni. Abuui Rauf Chauuhiy, Piesiuent, FP0 u2:uupm
3
Cbapter I
Inaugural &Keynote Address
4
ustice (Retu) Yasmin Abbasey, Bi. Niia
Phai l bus, Ni. Ej az Ahmau Quieshi ,
}
uistinguisheu guests, lauies anu gentlemen, I
welcome you all on the inauguial ceiemony of a
Two- Bay Woikshop on "Chal l enges of
0mbuusmanship" oiganizeu by the Foium of
Pakistan 0mbuusman in collaboiation with the
Inteinational 0mbuusman Institute.
The Foium of Pakistan 0mbuusman was
establisheu on the 1Sth of Apiil 2u11 'to take up
seveial new initiatives to make the 0mbuusman
seivices moie tianspaient anu effective, anu to
tiansfoim the Foium into a vibiant anu cieuible
justice sectoi public seivice oiganization.' The
neeu to set up this common platfoimfoi action is
guiueu by the conviction that in oiuei to iemain
ielevant, the 0mbuusman must uelivei. Not long
aftei theFoiumwas set up, on the1SthNov 2u12, a
bioauly similai peiception emeigeu in the histoiic
'Wellington Beclaiation' of the Inteinational
0mbuusman Institute confeience at Wellington,
NewZealanu.
Touay, theie appeais to be consensus that
the 0mbuusman must be shown to be an effective
entity, able to pioviue meaningful ielief
expeuitiously toahaiasseu citizeniy, not only fiom
the malauministiation of the State Functionaiies
but also fiom an incieasingly asseitive piivate
sectoi that is making aggiessive inioaus intomany
aieas pieviously seen as an exclusiveuomain of the
State. Anu Buman Rights issues aie nowseen as a
significant aiea of concein foi the 0mbuusman
incluuing the violation of Buman Rights at
woikplace, especially as iegaius women who aie
fast becoming impoitant membeis of the
woikfoice.
The 0mbuusman we see touay i s
qualitatively uiffeient fiom the classical
0mbuusman that emeigeu fiom Sweuen in the
eaily 19th centuiy. Foi one thing, the 0mbuusman
may not be a man at all anu 0mbuuspeisons who
aie ieally 0mbuuswomen aie making theii
piesence felt in many juiisuictions. While the title,
'0mbuusman' has enuuieu, it has become genuei
neutial.
The 21st centuiy 0mbuusman has evolveu
fiom hi s iathei stai u anu conseivative
pieuecessoi anu has moipheu into a fai moie
veisatile, pioactive aggiessive anu uaiing entity
anu one incieasingly confionteu with matteis
othei than puiely goveinance issues involving the
State Functionaiies. Auaptation oi hybiiuization
is, theiefoie, the next step in the evolution of the
0mbuusman office. Theie is a shift of emphasis
fiom a piimaiy concein foi the quality of public
auministiation to the piovision of ieuiess in
inuiviuual cases of injustice in uiffeient aieas such
as woikplace injustice foi the woikei especially
the female woikei, injustice foi the consumei by
Banking anu Insuiance Companies anu othei
financial institutions etc.
The test facing the 0mbuusman touay is
howwell the office is able to oveicome a plethoia
of pioblems anu challenges being faceu by it.
Boubtlessly, these challenges emanate laigely
fiom the incieasing complexity of the woilu we
Inaugural Address of
Hon'ble Mr. Abdur Rauf Cbaudbry
President, Forum of Pahistan Umbudsman
5
In the context of Buman Rights issues, the
piomulgation, of the Piotection against
Baiassment of Women at the Woikplace Act 0f
2u1u, on 11th Naich 2u1u, followeu by
appointment of a Feueial 0mbuusman to
implement the statute on 1Sth}anuaiy 2u11was a
ciucial fiist step in ensuiing that woikplace
injustice faceu by women in Pakistan is auuiesseu
effectively.
An extiemely impoitant piece of legislation
in the empoweiment of all Feueial 0mbuusman
offices in Pakistan has been the piomulgation by
the Piesiuent, on the 12th Febiuaiy 2u1S, of the
Feueial 0mbuusmen Institutional Refoims
0iuinance 2u1S followeu by its enactment as an
Act on the 14th of Naich this yeai. As a iesult, all
Feueial 0mbuusmen in Pakistan nowhave a fixeu
foui yeai teim of office, can take action foi
Contempt of the office, exeicise poweis of a Civil
Couit in matteis peitaining to giant of tempoiaiy
i n j u n c t i o n s a n u i mp l e me n t a t i o n o f
iecommenuations, have full financial anu
auministiative autonomy in all matteis ielating to
the office incluuing the cieation of new
officesposts pioviueu the expenuituie is met
fiom the allocateu buuget, have the powei to
ieviewtheii own iecommenuations, suo motu oi
on application fileu befoie themwithin Su uays of
ielease of oiuei anu have complete inuepenuence
in ueciuing complaints that cannot be taken up by
any othei Authoiity, Tiibunal oi Couit so long as
the 0mbuusman is seizeu with an investigation.
Besiues, this Act has oveiiiuing effect.
Fuitheimoie, iepiesentations befoie the
Piesiuent of Pakistan against the 0mbuusman's
iecommenuations will now have to be ueciueu
within 6u uays wheieas eailiei no time limit was
specifieu anu uelay was the noim. It is hopeu that
live in anu the piolifeiation of new entities that
have emeigeu as a consequence anu whose
inteiaction with the public at laige has thiown up
newpioblems that the 0mbuusman is being calleu
upon to auuiess. Bis uifficulties aie compounueu
by the fact that woiluwiue fiscal constiaints mean
that he is being calleu upon to achieve moie, much
moie, without being able to mobilize matching
iesouices. A majoi challenge, theiefoie, involves
incieasing efficiency without incieasing
expenuituie.
Slow hanuling of complaints is one of the
gieatest uangeis to the cieuibility of 0mbuusmen
all ovei the woilu. The aim shoulu be to unuo
possible instance of malauministiation to the
benefit of citizens as soon as possible. The
0mbuusman must ieuiess giievances by taking
action as soon as possible aftei complaints aie
ieceiveu anu ways anu means will have tobe founu
to ensuie that theie is no unwaiianteu uelay in
theii uisposal, incluuing selection of competent
anu motivateu staff anu imaginative use of mouein
Infoimation anu Communication Technology
(ICT). The complaints woikloau is alsoexpecteu to
inciease paitly uue to incieaseu awaieness by the
public of the peifoimance of public functionaiies
at all levels, thanks to laws like the Fieeuom of
Infoimation 0iuinance 2uu2 (FI0) that is only
now being invokeu to seek out peitinent
infoimation.
In oiuei to iemain effective in a fast
changing woilu the 0mbuusman cannot affoiu to
be meiely ieactive anu towait foi a complaint tobe
ieceiveu befoiehelaunches an investigation. Nany
0mbuusman offices aie empoweieu to take own
motion initiatives anu stait an investigation
piobatively especially with iegaiu to systemic
issues anu thus, pieempt possibleinjustice.

Inteinational 0mbuusman Institute to oiganize

this event. I amalso giateful to the Woilu Bank foi
pioviuing us suppoit especially in the aiea of
capacity builuing. The Asian Bevelopment Bank is
also funuing a pioject titleu "0p-giauation anu
Computeiization of Feueial Tax 0mbuusman
(FT0) 0ffice" foi which I amgiateful to them. The
0NBP has pioviueu office equipment to vaiious
offices of the 0mbuusman woiking in Pakistan
thiough this foium. I am also giateful to them foi
theii suppoit. I hope that all such institutions will
iemain with us to accomplish the mission of
ieuiessing giievances of the people of Pakistan
within theshoitest possibletime.
In the enu, I am pleaseu to inauguiate the
Two- Bay Woikshop on "Chal l enges of
0mbuusmanship."
0nce again thankyouveiy much, lauies anu
gentlemen, tobewithus on this occasion!
all this woulu gieatly stiengthen all 0mbuusman
offices in Pakistan anu enhance theii effectiveness
manifolu in ieuiessinggiievances.
A two-uay Woikshop was uesigneu to
exchange views on a iange of subjects ielevant to
the uevelopment of the 0mbuusman office in
Pakistan with special iefeience to the challenges
that the office faces anu steps to ueal with them
effectively. It is hopeu that the paiticipants woulu
have a fiuitful expeiience in what is an exciting
fielu of human enueavoi uesigneu specifically to
ieuiess oi at least mitigate haiuship uue to
malauministiation of public functionaiies, the
highhanueuness of piivate entities, coipoiate oi
otheiwise anu the violation of human iights in the
woikplace especially iegaiuing the women
membeis of thewoikfoice.
Availing this oppoitunity, I expiess my
giati tuue foi the suppoit piovi ueu by
7
n the KEYN0TE ABBRESS, Ni. Ejaz Ahmau
Quieshi, a seasoneu buieauciat anu
ICommissionei foi Chiluien in the Feueial
0mbuusman Secietaiiat (Wafaqi Nohtasib),
uilateu eloquently anu knowleugeably on the iole
of the 0mbuusman's office in cateiing to the
special neeus of a vulneiable segment of oui
population, chiluien. Be pointeu out that in 198S
Pakistan was the fiist countiy in Asia to appoint a
Feueial 0mbuusman on the Sweuish mouel that
became a piecuisoi to seveial othei 0mbuusman
offices at the Feueial anu piovincial level incluuing
specializeu 0mbuusmen in uiffeient aieas, like the
Feueial Tax 0mbuusman, the Banking anu
Insuiance 0mbuusman, theieby gieatly
facilitating the evolution of the office in Pakistan.
Be pointeu out that it was in 2uu9 that Pakistan
inkeu an Nemoianuum of 0nueistanuing (N00)
with the 0NICEF that laiu the giounuwoik foi the
uevelopment of an office uesigneu especially to
ueal with piotecting the iights of Pakistan's
buigeoning chilu population anu whose aim was
to eventually leau to the uevelopment of a full-
fleugeu 0mbuusman foi Chiluien at the national
level. Be saiu that while it was uifficult foi chiluien
to come foith with complaints in the same mannei
as auults, peihaps it was moie impoitant to
enquiie into the unueilying, systemic issues that
iesulteu in the infiingement of theii iights anu
impacteu auveisely on theii welfaie. The 0niteu
Nations hau highlighteu many of thesepioblems in
a 199u's Convention on Chilu Rights. It was in this
context that a majoi stuuy by inuepenuent
consultants was commissioneu to evaluate in-
uepth, the pioblems being faceu by chiluien in
Pakistan anu make specific iecommenuations to
ueal with them effectively. The stuuy was
subsequently put to sciutiny anu enuoiseu by
Noiway's 0mbuusman foi Chilu Rights who hau
iich expeiience in this aiea. Bowevei, aftei the
passage of the 18th Amenument to the
Constitution of Pakistan, the Right's of Chiluien
uevolveu to piovinces anu the cieation of one
Feueial 0mbuusman foi Chiluien became
somewhat pioblematic. Neveitheless, a Chiluien's
Complaints 0ffice (CC0) hau alieauy been set up in
the Feueial 0mbuusman's office anu a chilu
0mbuusman 'system' in all foui piovinces came to
be seen as an impoitant iequiiement in the futuie
to mitigate the tiauma faceu by chiluien when
theii iights weieviolateu.
Coming to the theme of the Woikshop,
"Challenges of 0mbuusmanship", Ni. Ejaz Ahmau
Quieshi saiu that when a new institutional
aiiangement, such as that of the 0mbuusman, oi
moiepaiticulaily, theChiluien's 0mbuusman, was
sought to be uevelopeu fiomsciatch, theie was no
ieauy-maue bluepiint that coulu be pickeu out
fioma book, as it weie, anu tiansplanteu stiaight
away. Rathei, foi optimumeffect, suchan officehau
to evolve, ovei time, anu auapt itself to the specific
iequiiements of its enviionment. uiving an
oveiviewof Pakistan's histoiical legacy in the aiea
of goveinance he pointeu out that successful
empiies of thepast in thesubcontinent weiebaseu
to a laige extent on theii buieauciatic expeitise
anu efficiency. This was as tiue in the eia of
Keynote Address
of
Mr. E|az Abmad Quresbi, Federal Secretary {Retd]
8
ChanuiaguptaNauiyaas in theEmpiieof thegieat
Nughals' anu latei, when Inuia became pait of the
vast Biitish Empiie. uoing back in histoiy, he saiu
that the ancient Chinese Empeiois also ielieu on
efficient buieauciats to enfoice the wiit of the
State anu implement policy. Bowevei, the uecline
of each empiie was ielateu to an eiosion of its
buieauciatic piowess anu, theiefoie, its ability to
exeicisecontiol effectively.
Touay, the task of the buieauciat in
ueveloping countiies like Pakistan, has been
gieatly complicateu by the uaunting spectei of
extieme poveity, mass illiteiacy anu the auvent of
poweiful, piivilegeu elite who have come to play
an inoiuinate iole in the uecision making piocess
anu constantly stiive to fuithei augment theii
authoiity. The uifficult situation has been fuithei
exaceibateu by an activist juuiciaiy that auus to
the buiuens of the buieauciacy. Placeu in this
challenging situation the office of the 0mbuusman
offeis goou goveinance solutions that aie simple,
ui iect anu i nexpensive. uiven uefi ci ent
accountability systems, the 0mbuusman can act as
an effective Alteinative Bispute Resolution (ABR)
foium. Bowevei, all this is pieuicateu on the
piesumption that the 0mbuusman is an
excepti onal peison of i ntegii ty, abi l i ty,
compassion, uiive anu initiative anu is also
apolitical anu non- paitisan.
Ni. Ejaz Ahmau Quieshi went on to say that
the0mbuusman may be moieoi less activist in his
outlook anu appioach but his activism, when it is
piesent, must not be baseu on a uesiie to offset
institutional shoitcomings in othei aieas as each
oigan of the State has to play its uesignateu iole
effectively foi optimum iesults. Be lamenteu the
fact that although the Feueial 0mbuusman of
Pakistan ueals with moie than 4u,uuu complaints
pei annum, fewpeople aie awaie of the office anu
he sawthis as a failuie in piojecting the office anu
the woik that it uoes, effectively. Be saiu that when
systems become uysfuncti onal i nfoimal
appioaches to the iesolution of pioblems assume
significance anu the 0mbuusman was seen as a
last iesoit by many fiustiateu at getting ieuiess
fiom the iegulai juuicial anu couit system that is
cloggeu with penuing cases that may take yeais to
cleai. Bowevei, notwithstanuing this positive
peiception about the office in the minus of those
who have actually benefiteu fiom its woik, the
0mbuusman must iemain within thebounus of his
assigneu juiisuiction anu ought not toencioachon
the juiisuiction of otheis. At the same time, he
must not hesitate in boluly giving ielief wheie
ielief is uue.
The speakei concluueu his auuiess with this
couplet:
"Don't cry against tbe darhness,
Ligbt a Candle."
9
Cbapter II
Presentations by Resource Persons
10
{i] Mr. YasinTabir
SeniorAdvisor
Federal Tax Umbudsman
he 0ffice of the Feueial Tax 0mbuusman
(FT0) was establisheu in Septembei 2uuu
Twi t h t he ' obj ect ive to ui agnose,
investigate, ieuiess anu iectify' malauministiation
in the Feueial Boaiu of Revenue (FBR) anu its fielu
foimations (the Agency). Since its inception to
uate, the FT0 has uisposeu of moie than 18,uuu
complaints.
Ni. Yasin Tahii, Senioi Auvisoi in the
Feueial Tax 0mbuusman Secietaiiat at Islamabau
(FT0) since 2uu9, iuentifieu uoggeu iesistance by
the functionaiies of the Agency to effoits maue by
the FT0 to both investigate a complaint as well as
implement the iecommenuations maue aftei the
complaint was uisposeu of, as a majoi challenge
that the 0mbuusman faces in caiiying out his
manuate. Be explaineu that when a complaint is
taken up foi investigation it is fiist sent to the FBR
foi comments on its contents. Be saiu that in a veiy
laige numbei of cases the iesistance is eviuent in
the initial ieply fileu by FBR. Till quite iecently, the
FBR's fiist iesponse invaiiably has been that the
FT0 has no juiisuiction to take up the complaint
foi investigation. This objection is usually maue
mechanically, in steieotypical mannei, invoking
piovisions in the statute goveining the woiking of
the FT0 (the FT0 0iuinance 2uuu) that lay uown a
bai on the FT0 investigating cases involving
assessment of income anu ueteimination of tax
liability anu also taking up matteis that aie
subjuJice befoie the iegulai appellate foia
pioviueu foi unuei the statutes goveining the
woiking of FBR functionaiies. In the FBR's ieply
on the meiits of the complaint, heie too the
iesponse is usually a flat uenial of the allegations
leveleu by the Complainant. This uenial has little, if
anything at all, to with the stiict meiits of the case
anu is almost always maue mechanically, an
automatic ieflex action to the ieceipt of a
complaint. It is an extiemely iaie event inueeu
when FBR accepts the veiacity of the contents of a
complaint. The enu iesult is that the FT0 faces
uifficulties in caiiying out a meaningful
investigation iight fiomthe beginning. The othei
pait of the challenge is when the FT0 has uisposeu
of the complaint anu iecommenuations aie sent to
FBR foi implementation. Beie again, FBR
functionaiies aie loathe to implement the
iecommenuations within the given timeline anu it
is only aftei iepeateu ieminueis have been sent
that an acceptable level of implementation is
achieveu.
That FBR's ieluctance to implement the
iecommenuations is not baseu on thestiict meiits
of the case is eviuent fiom the fact that ieview
applications befoie the FT0 anu iepiesentations
befoie the Piesi uent agai nst the FT0' s
iecommenuations aie fileu in only a hanuful of
cases. Impoitantly, the uecisions in these cases as
well mostly go against FBR which cleaily suggests
that they lack meiit. It appeais that in most cases
the ieview applications anu iepiesentations aie
fileu by FBR only to uelay theii implementation.
The law as it stoou piioi to enactment of the
Feueial 0mbuusmen Institutional Refoims Act in
Naich 2u1S (F0IRA) alloweu the Piesiuent
inuefinite time to uispose of a iepiesentation fileu
by theFBR. This lacunain thestatutehas been fully
exploiteu by FBR anu in the cases that it was
paiticulaily aveise to implementing the FT0's
iecommenuations it woulu invaiiably opt to file a
iepiesentation befoie the Piesiuent wheie it
11
ioutinely iemaineu penuing foi a long time,
sometimes foi yeais on enu. Review applications
befoie the FT0 against his iecommenuations weie
also usually fileu in a whimsical mannei, often
belateuly, anu calculateu mostly to uefeat
implementation of iecommenuations. Again this
was possible because the statute uiu not piesciibe
a specific time peiiou foi filing ieview
applications.
The above citeu ueficiencies have since
been auuiesseu in the iecently enacteu F0IRA
(Feueial 0mbuusmen Institutional Refoims Act
2u1S) anu ieviewapplications befoie the FT0 aie
nowiequiieu to be fileu within Su uays of ielease
of his iecommenuations. Similaily, the Piesiuent
must ueciue a iepiesentation within 4S uays.
While it is now manuatoiy to file a ieview
application within the given time oi iisk its
summaiy uismissal thefateof aiepiesentation not
ueciueu by the Piesiuent within 4S uays of its
ieceipt is less cleai as in legal ciicles the time limit
of 4Suays is seen as 'uiiectoiy' in natuieanu hence
not stiictly binuing. Neveitheless, unuue uelay in
ueciuing iepiesentations woulu now ceitainly
attiact unwelcome attention which the Piesiuent
woulu tiy to avoiu as he is, aftei all, a political
cieatuie. This is alieauy eviuent fiom the shaip
ieuuction in tuinaiounu time taken by the
Piesiuent to ueciue iepiesentations fileu by FBR.
Thus, although enactment of F0IRA has helpeu
matteis consiueiably it is still too eaily to say that
the challenge poseu by FBR's negative minuset vis
avis theFT0 officehas been entiiely oveicomeanu
effoits will havetocontinuein thefutuiebefoiewe
have a satisfactoiily iesult. It may especially be
noteu that as on 1st }anuaiy 2u1S as many as S8S
iecommenuations maue by the FT0 fiom2uu2 till
S1st Bec 2u12 aie yet penuing implementation.
4S8of these peitain to2u12, 6Sto2u11, 27anu 22
to 2u1u anu 2uu9 iespectively anu the balance 11
iecommenuations penuing implementation
peitain tothepeiiou 2uu2to2uu8.
A ieluctance to utilize the full potential of
Infoimation anu Communications technology
(ICT) in the woiking of the FT0 offices is anothei
impoitant challenge iuentifieu by the Auvisoi. ICT
is touay univeisally iecognizeu as a 'foice
multipliei' when it comes to uata stoiage, ietiieval
anu collation anu gieatly facilitates timely anu
coiiect uecision making. Although an 0nline
computeiizeu complaint management system
(FCCNS) has been put in place in the FT0 offices in
2u12, complete uigitization of iecoius anu ieal
time piocessing of complaints still leaves much to
beuesiieu anu muchof theinteinal iecoiu keeping
within the FT0 offices continues to be baseu on
voluminous 'papei iecoius' that aie pioblematic
when it comes to theii safe stoiage anu aie also
highly susceptible to tampeiing which is a mattei
of consiueiable concein given the sensitive,
ievenue significant natuie of woikuone in the FBR
offices that is put tosciutiny by theFT0.
Ni Yasin Tahii also iefeiieu to othei
unueilying systemic issues that neeueu to be
oveicome if the FT0 office was to become an
effective complaint ieuiessal mechanism foi the
common man incluuingthepioblemof coiiuption.
The FT0 office is expecteu to auuiess this
challenge anu thiough its iecommenuations,
ensuie that coiiupt elements within the ianks of
FBR functionaiies aie iuentifieu anu fuitheimoie
systems aie put in place to ensuie that theie is no
iecuiienceof theii actions.
Ni Yasin Tahii is also of the opinion that
investigative ability in the investigation staff of the
FT0 office neeueu to be substantially upgiaueu as
198S, unuei the Feueial 0mbuusmen Institutional
Refoims Act 2u1S (F0IRA) anu special poweis
unuei the Civil Pioceuuie Coue (CPC) to giant
t e mp o i a i y i n j u n c t i o n s a n u e n f o i c e
i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f 0 m b u u s m a n ' s
iecommenuations, in his view, pose a majoi
challenge foi the 0mbuusman. This is because he
is now iequiieu to ensuie that notwithstanuing
such vast statutoiy authoiity at his uisposal, he
must act iesponsibly anu in a balanceu mannei
anu that theie is no misuse of this capability. Be
saiu that this was not easy as in many situations
theie was seiious piovocation fiomthe othei siue
especially when it came to implementation of the
0mbuusman's iecommenuations anu in such
uifficult situations the temptation to biing the full
weight of his authoiity tobeai was immense. But it
went to the cieuit of the 0mbuusman that in all
these Su ouu yeais of its existence he hau nevei
useu the haishei aspects of his vast authoiity such
as thepowei toactually invokestatutoiypoweis to
foimally take cognizance of Befiance anu
Contempt shown by uiffeient iepoiting agencies.
Tiue, at times showcause notices foi uefiance aie
issueu but that is usually enough to evoke a
positive iesponse anu no fuithei action is
necessaiy.
Ni. Saqib Aleem fuithei stateu that theie
weieanumbei of juiisuictional challenges that the
0mbuusman often faces. Thus matteis peitaining
to the aimeu foices of Pakistan anu the Ninistiy of
Befense cannot be taken up by the Feueial
0mbuusman. Natteis that aie sub-juuice befoie
any couit of competent juiisuiction anu matteis
involving seivice matteis of goveinment officials
also uiu not fall within the 0mbuusman's
juiisuiction. Noieovei, in ceitain cases it may not
be absolutely cleai as to which 0mbuusman is
many complaints involveu complex issues of
malauministiation closely inteitwineu withhighly
technical issues often conceineu with intiicate
FBR woik piocesses like automateu iefunu
piocessing systems (STARR anu CREST) anu auuit
selection issues.
{ii]
Additional Secretary
Federal Umbudsman
{Wafaqi Mobtasib]
he Wafaqi Nohtasib has the uistinction of
being the fiist 0mbuusman's office in
TPakistan establisheu in 198S to ieuiess
public giievances against malauministiation in the
offices of theFeueial uoveinment.
In his piesentation, Ni. Saqib Aleem, Auul
Secietaiy, Feueial 0mbuusman office went
stiaight to the point anu iuentifieu foui majoi
aieas that poseu challenges foi the Feueial
0mbuusman:
(i) Legal Challenges
(ii) Challenges in complaint hanuling.
(iii) Challenges in ielations with sistei
institutions of accountability.
(iv) Challenges in impiovement of public image
of the 0mbuusman anu the Feueial
uoveinment.
The Auul Secietaiy explaineu that as fai as
legal empoweiment is conceineu, the Feueial
0mbuusman of Pakistan is often iefeiieu to as the
seconu most poweiful 0mbuusman in the woilu.
Bowevei the vast poweis available to the
0mbuusman unuei Piesiuent's 0iuei No.1 of
198S (Wafaqi Nohtasib (0mbuusman) 0iuei
Mr. SaqibAleem
12
13
Bowevei, aftei the so calleu 'joint complaint' is
actually taken up foi investigation, it often
tianspiies that the joint complaint application is a
faaue anu actually only one peison is behinu the
complaint. All this is especially significant given
the heavy woikloau of complaints fileu in the
Feueial 0mbuusman's office. Ni Saqib infoimeu
that 4u,uuu ouu complaints aie ieceiveu annually
on aveiage anu in 2u1S the 0mbuusman uisposeu
of some S8,uuu complaints out of the 78,uuu that
hau pileu up ovei the two ouu yeais that the office
hau no 0mbuusman. As all executive authoiity is
concentiateu exclusively in the peison of the
Feueial 0mbuusman his absence cieateu a
vacuumanu no oiuei coulu be ieleaseu ovei a two
yeai peiiou. The enactment of F0IRAhas iemoveu
this obstacle as in futuie the Feueial Tax
0mbuusman will automatically holu auuitional
chaige of the office shoulu it fall vacant, foi any
ieason.
uiven the veiy laige numbei of complaints
ieceiveu in the 0mbuusman's office, a small aimy
of investigating officeis (I0's), 74 plus in stiength,
have hau to be employeu to ueal with them in a
ieasonable timefiame. Bowevei, this involves
selection of I0's with vaiiegateu backgiounus,
uiveise styles of conuucting investigations anu
vaiying levels of piofessional competence so that
theie is often veiy little unifoimity in the iepoits
fileu by themas a gioup. As similai pioblems neeu
to be uealt with similaily, the compulsions of
employing such a uiveise woikfoice goes against
the iequiiement of having to ueal with the
complaints in an oiueily mannei anu poses a
challenge that neeus to be iesolveu. If a iepoiting
agency ieuiesses the giievance uuiing the
investigation phase of a complaint then the
pioceeuings may be uioppeu abiuptly in oiuei to
piopeily empoweieu to take cognizance of the
malauministiation iepoiteu by a Complainant. All
this is usually because the uiviuing line between
what uiu anu uiu not fall within the Feueial
0mbuusman's juiisuiction is sometimes bluiieu
anu taking the coiiect uecision is a challenge that
neeueu sounu knowleuge anu unueistanuing of
not only the Feueial 0mbuusman's statutebut also
that of the othei 0mbuusmen. Ni Saqib fuithei
noteu that the public at laige also is not always
fully infoimeu about the nuances of the Feueial
0mbuusman's authoiity so that Complainant's
sometimes file complaints that suffei fiomvaiious
ueficiencies anu cannot theeiefoie be taken up foi
investigation.
Although the Feueial 0mbuusman's office
has a f ai il y compiehensi ve compl ai nt
management system, its optimum use by the
0mbuusman's office anu the public at laige left
much to be uesiieu anu this is seen as a challenge
that neeueu to be auuiesseu. 0nline complaint
filing is yet in its infancy anu complainants often
maue mistakes in submitting the iequiieu
uocumentation coiiectly. A conceiteu meuia
campaign to euucate the public at laige is,
theiefoie, iequiieu toauuiess theissue.
When complaints aie ieceiveu it is
impoitant that they be piopeily evaluateu so that
only those complaints aie taken up foi
investigation that qualifieu unuei the law anu
applicable iules. Bowevei, this is easiei saiu than
uone anu it is a challenge that will have to be
oveicome if the 0mbuusman is to be able to
peifoim his uuties effectively. Sometimes
complaints aie shown to have been fileu jointly
anu suchcommunity baseu complaint's attiacteu a
highei piioiity foi theii eaily uisposal given the
fact that a numbei of Complainant's aie involveu.
14
challenges foi the0mbuusman. Thus, althoughthe
Feueially Auministeieu Tiibal Aieas (FATA) fall
within the juiisuiction of the Feueial 0mbuusman,
it may be extiemely uifficult foi him to actually
enfoice his wiit in these aieas. As non- payment of
electiicity bills was enuemic in FATA, WAPBA hau
at times auopteu the expeuient of imposing
collective liability against the iesiuents of a
paiticulai locality wheie non compliance was
paiticulaily pioblematic. Bowevei, if a complaint
was ieceiveu fiom a iesiuent who uiu pay his bill
anu was not to blame foi the willful uefault of
otheis, the 0mbuusman hau little option but to
iule against WAPBA notwithstanuing the fact that
by his action WAPBA woulu have to face fuithei
uifficulties.
Accoiuing to Ni. Saqib Aleem the Feueial
0mbuusman is also facing challenges fiom a
hypeiactivejuuiciaiy anu an aggiessively asseitive
meuia. Be saiu that the juuiciaiy is inclineu to
encioach on the 0mbuusman's juiisuiction anu
t a ke up c a s e s t ha t c l e a i l y i nvol ve u
malauministiation as a uominant featuie.
Although F0IRA hau helpeu the 0mbuusman a lot
in maintaining the integiity of his juiisuiction, the
pioblemof unbiiuleu juuicial activismpeisists. Be
is of the view that so many suo motu cases have
been taken up by the supeiioi juuiciaiy that theii
uisposal has become pioblematic anu he
suggesteu that the extia woikloau in the juuiciaiy
can be passeu on to the 0mbuusman! Similaily, in
the case of the meuia, a gieat ueal of baseless hype
often cieateu on issues about which theie is
insufficient compiehension anu as a iesult
uniealistic expectations aie attacheu to the office
of the 0mbuusman followeu by unfaii ciiticism
when they aienot achieveu.
Although the Feueial 0mbuusman ueals
ensuie closuie. Bowevei, a similai issue in anothei
complaint may not meet with a similai iesponse
fiom the conceineu agency in that case anu will
necessitate that pioceeuings be taken to theii
logical conclusion but without the benefit of a
ielevant pieceuent that might have maue it
simplei anu fai fastei tobiingclosuiein that case.
Ni. Saqib Aleem opineu that one ieason
why investigation officeis uo not liquiuate all
penuency is because they feai that with no
complaints left to investigate they might become
ieuunuant anu lose theii jobs! Be is of the view
that this is a challenge that may nevei be oveicome
because of the all peivasive feai of joblessness in a
uifficult economic enviionment. Bis ieasoning,
howevei, piovokeu an inteiestingiesponsewhen a
woikshop paiticipant pointeu out that he once
enquiieu fiomthe 0mbuusman fiomCanaua as to
what was his woikloau anu was tolu that cuiiently
it was zeio. Be then askeu that if that be the case
why wasn't the 0mbuusman's office wounu up.
Piompt came the ieply: "Tomake suie that it stays
at zeio!"
The Auuitional Secietaiy was also of the
viewthat althoughthe ombuusman was peiceiveu
as a ielief giving entity, too much financial ielief
accoiueu in multiple cases may piove to be
counteipiouuctive, weie it to aggiegate to an
amount that becomes a buiuen on the public
exchequei because that may in tuin piovoke a
iounu of auuitional taxation auuing to the woes of
an alieauy haiasseu citizeniy. Thus, the type anu
amount of financial ielief accoiueu by the
0mbuusman may becomeachallengeas hemay be
iequiieu to fix ceilings to the ielief accoiueu by
way of financial hanuouts.
Factois ielateu to geogiaphical, cultuial,
ethnic anu linguistic uiveisity can also cieate
15
ieceiveu foimally have to auheie to piesciibeu
guiuelines anu 9842 such complaints have been
ieceiveu since inception upto S1.u8.2u1S yieluing
an aveiage of 12Su complaints pei annum.
Complaints ieceiveu infoimally thiough e-mail, by
telephoneoi by walk-in complainants aggiegateto
16,446 in the same peiiou with an annual aveiage
of a bout 2uSS. An I nf oi ma t i on a nu
Communications Technology (ICT) baseu
complaint management system is in place anu
tiacks the piogiess in piocessing anu uisposal of a
complaint in ieal time. Complaints by aggiieveu
peisons aie taken up foi investigation when they
aie founu to be consistent with the piesciibeu
teims of iefeience anu a mutually agieeu
iesolution of the uispute is not feasible. An
investigation then follows leauing to an
assessment. Remeuial action by the Nohtasib
(0mbuusman) is limiteu to a iecommenuation foi
payment of compensation equal to the actual loss
suffeieu. If the assessment was uisputeu by eithei
paity, a time bounu ieview befoie the Nohtasib
(0mbuusman) oi a iepiesentation befoie the
Piesiuent of Pakistan is possible.
Bank customeis seek the Nohtasib
(0mbuusman)'s inteivention usually when they
have suffeieu a financial loss as a iesult of Bank
staff inefficiency with iegaiu to the seivices
pioviueu oi consumei piouucts useu by the Bank
customeis. Ni. Faihat explaineu that a majoi cause
of complaints is that ielateu tothe iise of, socalleu,
paiallel Banking opeiations in Pakistan wheieby
Bank officials, piincipally the Bank Nanagei anu
some select staff, take it upon themselves to ueal
uiiectly with Bank customeis, accepting ueposits,
making payments anu even at times ietaining
custouy of thecustomeis' chequebooktowiiteout
anu even sign cheques anu uiawpayment fiomthe
with complaints against Feueial uoveinment
uepaitment anu its functionaiies anu often iules
against them, it is a challenge foi him to actually
uefenu them when his investigations ieveal that
they aieinnocent of any wionguoing.
{iii]
SeniorAdvisor
BanhingMobtasib
he Banking Nohtasib (0mbuusman)
became functional on Nay 2, 2uuS when
Tan amenument maue in the Banking
Companies 0iuinance 1962 cieateu the office of
the Banking Nohtasib, Pakistan. Its cieation
followeu a suige in consumei piouucts offeieu by
mushioom giowth of Banks in the piivate sectoi.
In the wake of it, theii came the expecteu
complaints fiom iiate customeis who hau
huiiieuly latcheu on to the newiange of piouucts
offeieu without iealizing the iisks involveu. The
iesulting scenaiio caiiieu out foi a viable,
inexpensive anu quick, uispute iesolution
mechanismoutsiue the iegulai couits systemanu
the Banking Nohtasib (0mbuusman) was the
answei. ueneially, his task is to meuiate between
inuiviuuals anu Banks but meuiation between
Banks is also possible. Like all 0mbuusmen he
looks foi malauministiation by a Bank that has
iesulteu in an aggiieveu customei. uoou
goveinance is the ultimate objective. The
heauquaiteis aie locateu at Kaiachi anu theie aie
five iegional offices at Quetta, Lahoie, Peshawai,
Nultan anu Rawalpinui.
Ni. Faihat Saeeu, Senioi Auvisoi, Banking
Nohtasib, explaineu the piocess flowfoi hanuling
complaints at the Banking Nohtasib. Complaints
Mr. Farbat Saeed
1
As explaineu by Ni. Faihat Saeeu such like fiauus
peipetiateu by coiiupt Bank officials pose a
seiious challenge to the Nohtasib (0mbuusman)
as it is not a simple mattei topiove that the allegeu
events evei took place. These aie ueep seateu
systemic issues that plague oui Banking system
anu given the iapacity anu gieeu of these Bank
officials it is unlikely that they will give up theii
coiiupt ways easily. Such inuiviuuals neeu to be
iuentifieu anu it must be ensuieu that theii
seivices aie teiminateu by the conceineu Bank
anu theieaftei theii names placeu on auatabaseof
blacklisteu peisons whose access may be available
to all Banks. Ni. Faihat Saeeu fuithei saiu that
Bank officials may even be involveu in ATN fiauu
anu in uefiauuing, so calleu, 'photo account'
holueis in vaiious ways. These 'photo account'
holueis aie illiteiate peisons who have been
alloweu to open Bank accounts anu theii
photogiaph affixeu to theii account opening foim
is supposeu to give them access to Bank seivices.
Bowevei they too become susceptible to
exploitation by unsciupulous Bankfunctionaiies.
Ni. Faihat Saeeu saiu that in oiuei toenable
the Banking Nohtasib (0mbuusman) to be bettei
piepaieu to successfully meet the challenges
poseu by Bank fiauusteis it was impoitant that he
be fuithei empoweieu by enhancing the skill level
of those chaigeu with investigation woik anu foi
this a closei liaison with leaining institutions of
iepute like IBA, L0NS anu Institute of Bankeis,
Pakistan, beestablisheu.
The Auvisoi saiu that encioachment on its
juiisuiction by theWafaqi Nohtasib's officeinsofai
as complaints peitaining to functionaiies of the
National Bank of Pakistan aie taken up foi
investigation by the Feueial 0mbuusman, was
anothei challenge that neeueu to be auuiesseu to
customeis' account at the customeis behest. The
officei explaineu that in the inteiioi Punjab anu
Sinuh the pioblemwas especially seiious because
many customeis, especially those who peiceiveu
themselves to be placeu in a piivilegeu position,
abhoiieu going to the iegulai Bank counteis,
stanuing in queue anu 'waiting foi theii tuin' to be
seiviceu. The Bank Nanagei is familiai with theii
psychology anu exploits his position to tiap
vulneiable customeis into establishing a special
ielationship with him. 0fficially of couise no Bank
appioves such a pol i cy. Bowevei, i t i s
inconceivable that they not be awaie of its
existence as it is going on iight unuei theii nose, as
it weie. Soonei oi latei, someone falls' victimanu
gets cheateu anu when the Bank ignoies his
piotests he goes to the Banking Nohtasib
(0mbuusman). As this is tantamount to fiauu by
Bank officials it falls within the juiisuiction of the
BankingNohtasib.
0thei unuesiiable activities in which Bank
officials get involveu, is the unauthoiizeu sale of
insuiance policies. 0nuei the law Banks aie only
authoiizeu to ueal with such insuiance policy
matteis as ielate stiictly to the business that theii
customeis tiansact thioughthe Bank. They aie not
authoiizeu to negotiate sale of Life Insuiance
Policies but that, accoiuing to Ni. Faihat Saeeu is
what they have been founu engageu in. Beie too,
unwaiy customeis aie uupeu into buying Life
policies without piopeily taking them into
confiuence iegaiuing the implications of theii
puichase. The objective is usually to manipulate
payment of heavy piemium on the policy by the
unsuspecting customei foi which the Bank official
ieceives a hefty cut. If the customei then tiies to
liquiuate the policy piematuiely, the piemium
payments aie ueuucteu befoie payment is maue.
17
enable the Banking Nohtasib (0mbuusman) to uo
his woik piopeily. Be saiu that as pei the Banking
Nohtasib's chaitei he has juiisuiction ovei
officials of all Banks except employees of the State
Bank of Pakistan anu theie is no justification foi
this unwaiianteuencioachment on its juiisuiction
by theWafaqi Nohtasib (Feueial 0mbuusman).
Ni. Faihat fuithei pointeu out that theie
was a wiue vaiiation in the funuing anu seivice
iules of uiffeient 0mbuusmen anu this was a
challenge because it uiiectly impacteu on the
moiale, well-being anu caieei piospects of
suppoiting staff employeu to facilitate the
Nohtasib in the uischaige of his uuties. Be saiu
that theie shoulu be a conveigence in the seivice
conuitions anu salaiy stiuctuie of uiffeient
0mbuusmen.
{iv]
Director
InsuranceUmbudsman
uisuant to enactment of the Insuiance
0iuinance of 2uuu, the fiist Feueial
PInsuiance 0mbuusman (FI0) was
appointeuin 2uu6. Its stateu objective is to iesolve
uisputes between the Insuieu Policy holuei anu
the Insuiance Company that pioviues the
insuiance covei. These uisputes can aiise as a
iesult of malauministiation by the insuiance
company employees anu it is ovei these cases that
the FI0 exeicises juiisuiction. As explaineu by Ni.
Nubashi i Naeem, Bi iect oi, I nsuiance
0mbuusman Secietaiiat, the insuiance business is
uiviueu into two bioau categoiies, Life Insuiance
anu ueneial Insuiance. Life Insuiance business
has appioximately 7u - 7S% maiket shaie of the
ovei-all insuiance business. The State Life
Mr. MubasbirNaeem
Insuiance CoLtu (SLIC); the National Insuiance Co
Ltu (NICL); Postal Life Insuiance Co Ltu (PLICL)
anu the Pakistan Re-Insuiance Co Ltu (PRICL) aie
the majoi playeis selling Life Insuiance anu
cateiing to the neeus of Policy holueis anu
commanu appioximately 6u% of total maiket
shaie of the Life Insuiance business. Although the
Insuiance 0iuinance 2uuu manuates that all
malauministiation complaints peitaining to
Insuiance companies may be iesolveu by the
Feueial Insuiance 0mbuusman, complaints
peitaining to the above foui majoi Insuiance
Companies continue to be piocesseu anu uealt
wi th by the Wafaqi Nohtasi b (Feueial
0mbuusman) even aftei the office of the FI0 was
cieateu in 2uu6. Piesently, some 2,Suu to S,uuu
complaints peitaining to Life Insuiance business
aie stately penuing with the Feueial 0mbuusman
anu continue to be uealt with by himwhen as pei
the ielevant legislation they shoulu be uealt with
by the FI0. While the Feueial 0mbuusman's
juiisuiction extenus to all Feueial uoveinment
functionaiies, those functionaiies who woik foi
specializeu oiganizations in the public sectoi fall
within the juiisuiction of the iespective Feueial
0mbuusman appointeu to ueal with complaints
peitaining to them. To illustiate, the Feueial Tax
0mbuusman ueals with complaints peitaining to
functionaiies of the Feueial Boaiu of Revenue
(FBR). 0n the same analogy, complaints peitaining
to all insuiance companies ought to be uealt with
by the Feueial Insuiance 0mbuusman (FI0) anu
not by the Wafaqi Nohtasib (Feueial 0mbuusman)
as his juiisuiction stoou ousteu in 2uu6 when the
office of the FI0 came into existence. The
continueu investigation of public sectoi insuiance
company cases complaints by the Feueial
0mbuusman is an anomaly that neeus to be
iesolveu on an emeigent basis anu it poses a majoi
18
A question was put to the speakei iegaiuing the
'small piint synuiome' as it ielates to insuiance
policy uocumentation anu he was askeu to amplify
his iefeience to the uelibeiate use of small piint to
piint policy uocuments anu iequests fiom the
insuianceagent tothepiospectivebuyei tosign on
the uotteu line 'without uelay.' Ni. Nubashii
Naeem Siuuique explaineu that the use of small
piint was paitly toieuucethepapei loau as theuse
of laigei, moie ieauable fonts woulu iesult in a
policy uocument iunning into 2u-2S piinteu
pages, may even moie in ceitain cases. Bowevei,
he agieeu with the paiticipants suggestion that
anothei ieason foi the use of small piint was to
foice the piospective buyei to avoiu ieauing the
entiie uocument anu quickly sign on the uotteu
line anu theieby not be piopeily infoimeu of the
elaboiate teims anu conuitions laiu uown by the
insuiance company. Bis alaciity coulu inueeu cost
him ueai because he can, then, finu out that the
insuiance company was not liable to pay him
anything in ceitain situations that he was not
awaie of when he signeu the uocument. In fact,
theie have been cases when the peison buying a
policy was not even liteiate anu coulu just sign his
name. Anu theinsuianceagent mauenoattempt to
'ieau out' the policy teims anu conuitions to him!
The uelibeiate use of small piint may, theiefoie, be
seen as attempteu 'entiapment' of the unwaiy
consumei.
The nexus between Insuiance Companies
anu Banking companies in which Bankeis become
sales peisons on the look-out foi quick eainings,
when contiiveu to sell insuiance, especially life
insuiance, peifoice to an unsuspecting customei
uoes not boue well foi the oiueily anu healthy
uevelopment of the insuiance inuustiy. The
insuiance companies may tuin a blinu eye to this
challenge to the oiueily functioning of the Feueial
Insuiance0mbuusman.
Ni. Nubashii saiu that anothei challenge
being faceu by the FI0 peitains to funuing
constiaints that limit the spheie of action of the
FI0 anu place iestiictions on the appointment of
suitably qualifieu staff anu puichase of necessaiy
equipment foi the office. Although the situation
has impioveu aftei the enactment of the Feueial
0mbuusmen Institutional Refoims Act 2u1S
(F0IRA) anu the buuget allocation foi the FI0 is
now a chaige on the Cential Consoliuateu Funu,
buuget sanction unuei vaiious Beaus insteau of a
one line buuget as in the case of the Feueial
0mbuusman anu the Feueial Tax 0mbuusman
continues tohampei thewoikingof theFI0.
The ingenuity uisplayeu by insuiance
companies in cieating huiules in the expeuitious
payment of insuiance money on ueath of the
insuieu oi matuiity of the policy, whichevei is
eailiei, neeus tobecounteieu effectively by theFI0
foi which he neeus to iemain one step aheau of
those whoseektoconfuse anu confounu the policy
holuei.
The Biiectoi explaineu that Insuiance
Policy uocumentation that the policy holuei
ieceives is tiauitionally piinteu using small fonts
anu is baiely ieauable. In fact most people cannot
go thiough the uocumentati on wi thout
consiueiable eye stiain anu mental tension. The
iesult is that most policy holueis just iushthiough
the thousanus of woius in each policy uocument
anu simply ask the insuiance agent to inuicate
wheie tosign the uocument. That is piecisely what
the Insuiance Company wants. Anu the haste that
the policy holuei shows can cost him ueai as he
may leain latei when heis placeu in asituation that
makes it necessaiy foi himto put the policy to use.
19
Quetta, the piovincial capital, anu theie aie seven
iegional offices.
The Secietaiy explaineu that most of the
complaints peitaineu to malauministiation issues
ielating to the Euucation anu Piison uepaitments
in the piovince. Be saiu that conuitions in both
these goveinment uepaitments aie uismal anu
nepotism, coiiuption, aibitiaiy appointments anu
highhanueuness of the officials is iampant leauing
to wiuespieau uisaffection with the goveinmental
machineiy. Besaiu that theii employees hau fileu a
veiy laige numbei of complaints that piesently
coulu not be taken up because of the bai on the
0mbuusman fiom taking up complaints foi
investigation peitaining to seivice matteis. Be
aigueu that this bai be iemoveu anu the
0mbuusman be given juiisuiction to investigate
such cases as the affecteu peisons weie not able to
meet expenses involveu in filing complaints befoie
the iegulai appellate foia pioviueu foi appeals
ielateu to seivice matteis such as the Seivices
Tiibunal. The Secietaiy was also ciitical of the
allegeu encioachment on the 0mbuusman's
juiisuiction by the juuiciaiy. Be saiu that
notwithstanuing the fact that malauministiation
issues fell exclusively within the 0mbuusman's
juiisuiction as pei expiess statutoiy stipulation,
the juuiciaiy still took up cases foi aujuuication
involving malauministiation issues which is not
faii to the aggiieveu peisons anu is an affiont to
the 0mbuusman anu this piactice shoulu be
stoppeu.
Accoiuing to the Secietaiy, a majoi
challenge being faceu by the 0mbuusman was an
acute paucity of financial iesouices. The financial
constiaints hau stateuly ienueieu the office
ineffectivesincetheiequiieu funus tofill in all staff
vacancies anu conuuct in-uepth investigations on
malpiactice involving employees of insuiance
companies anu Banks because it appeais to be
helping theii business. Bowevei, this piactice once
establisheu inevitably leaus to coiiupt piactices in
whichiapacious bankeis stiive to shoitchange the
insuiance policy buyei in the expectation of
ieaping easy pecuniaiy benefits by way of a hefty
shaie in the fiist piemium payment anu by othei
uubious techniques. In othei aieas as well
incluuing health anu tiavel insuiance, scams
abounu anu FI0 must be awaie of the moualities
involveu. It is, theiefoie, a challenge foi himto be
awaie of the coiiuption that fuels such enteipiise
anu all complaints fileu leveling allegations of
malpiactices by Insuiance Company employees
neeu to be investigateu aggiessively anu with
sounu unueistanuing of the methous useu to
uepiive policy holueis of the iightful covei that the
policy entitles themto.
{v]
Secretary
Provincial Umbudsman
Balocbistan
n 0iuinance - vI of 2uu1uateu 19.uS.2uu1
cieateu the office of the 0mbuusman foi
Athe piovince of Balochistan, Pakistan's
laigest Piovince. In his piesentation, Ni Riaz
Ahmau, Secietaiy, 0mbuusman Balochistan,
explaineu the salient featuies of the office anu the
woik uone by the 0mbuusman since inception of
the offi ce. Li ke othei 0mbuusmen, the
0mbuusman Balochistan ueals with malaumini-
stiation issues as they ielate to the piovincial
goveinment functionaiies. Since 2uu1 a total of
11,uuu complaints weie uisposeu of out of the
12,uuu ieceiveu. The 0mbuusman is baseu in
Mr. RiazAbmad
20
goveinment's haish anu uncaiing stance in the
mattei anu aigueu stiongly that the 0mbuusman
Balochistan may be given financial autonomy on
the same lines as the Feueial 0mbuusmen anu a
one line buuget shoulu be alloweu enabling the
0mbuusman to allocate the buugetaiy allocation
as he ueemeu fit. The Secietaiy also aigueu that
the 0mbuusman be alloweu to investigate
complaints peitaining to Seivice matteis of
goveinment employees as a veiy laige numbei of
such complaints aie lying unattenueu. Finally, the
Secietaiy pleaueu that the couit's having accepteu
that the 0mbuusman's is a 'quasi' juuicial office
giant of juuicial allowance to the 0mbuusman anu
his staff may beappioveu.
{vi]
Advisortotbe KPKUmbudsman
wo yeais olu, the 0mbuusman's office foi
Khybei Pakhtunkhwa is among the
Tyoungest i n t he count iy. I n hi s
piesentation, Ni. Atta ui Rehman, Auvisoi to the
KPK 0mbuusman explaineu the woiking of the
office anu its iole in iesolving complaints ielateu
to mal aumi ni stiati on by the Piovi nci al
uoveinment employees. At the outset, the Auvisoi
iegietteu that the juiisuiction of the 0mbuusman
hau been aibitiaiily cuitaileu in so fai as the
Piovincially Auministeieu Tiibal Aieas (PATA)
weie excluueu fiom his iemit anu this was
significant as PATA constituteu almost 2S% of the
total lanu aiea of Khybei Pakhtunkhwa. Be saiu
that theie was no justification foi this cuitailment
as PATA was integial to Khybei Pakhtunkhwa anu
piovincial employees woiking theie in any
capaci ty ought to fal l wi thi n the KPK
0mbuusman's juiisuiction.
Mr. AttaurRabman
piopei lines aie not maue available. Even
necessaiy capital expenuituie such as that
involveu in puichase of office equipment coulu not
be incuiieu. Buugetaiy allocations aie ueficient
anu aie maue unuei uiffeient Beaus so that the
0mbuusman has piactically no ioom left to
maneuvei in case he wants to change the
allocation uepenuing on the actual neeus of the
office. The Secietaiy fuithei saiu that it hau not
been possible foi the staff employeu in the FT0
Secietaiiat anu the iegional offices to benefit fiom
any tiaining couises to upgiaue theii skill level
anu although the 0mbuusman Balochistan is a
membei of the A0A anu the I0I, paiticipation in
theii confeiences anu tiaining woikshops is
pioblematic as the goveinment is not willing to
ielease any funus. Be fuithei pointeu out that in
spite of the fact that the 0mbuusman office has
been opeiational since 2uu1 the public at laige is
geneially unawaie of its existence anu those who
weie awaie have a veiy limiteu unueistanuing of
the woik uone by the 0mbuusman. The Secietaiy
saiu that this lack of knowleuge of the
0mbuusman's office anu the actual woik uone in
the office was mainly uue to the absence of any
piojection of the office thiough the meuia, again
uue to iesouice constiaints. A"Complaint Cell" set
up to ueal with complaints peitaining to chiluien
has been lyinguoimant sincelongas thepiovincial
goveinment took no inteiest in pioviuing neeueu
financial anu manpowei iesouices. Be saiu that
chiluien weie among the most vulneiable
membeis of society anu theii filing a complaint in
peison bef oie any aut hoii t y al l egi ng
maltieatment by goveinment functionaiies was
hugely pioblematic. The unique oppoitunity
accoiueu in this iegaiu by the office of the
0mbuusman must not be uenieu to them. The
Secietaiy was extiemely ciitical of the piovincial
21
was mainly uue to inauequate piojection of the
0mbuusman in thepiint anu electionic meuia.
The Auvisoi aigueu stiongly that auequate
funus be placeu at the uisposal of the 0mbuusman
to enable him to uo his woik effectively anu he
pleaueu that a single line buuget allocation may be
maue so that the 0mbuusman may be able to
assign iesouices himself to any aiea wheie they
may be iequiieu at any given time. The Auvisoi
pointeu out that single line buuget allocations hau
alieauy been appioveu foi Feueial 0mbuusmen
anu the same shoulu be uone in the case of
Piovincial 0mbuusmen as well. Be saiu that this
was the only way that financial anu functional
autonomy coulu be assuieu foi the 0mbuusman's
office.
The Auvisoi was highly ciitical of
appointment of the ietiieu goveinment
functionaiies to the 0mbuusman's office anu saiu
that this piactice shoulu be stoppeu anu seiving
officials only may beassigneu.
{vii]
Pun|abUmbudsmanForProtection
Against Harassment of Womenat
Worhplace.
he office of the 0mbuusman foi Piotection
against Baiassment 0f Women at
Twoikplace was cieateu on Sth }anuaiy
2u1S following enactment of the Punjab
Piotection against Baiassment of Women at
woikplace (Amenument) Act 2u12 (Act III of
2u1S) anu Ns. Niia Phailbus was appointeu as
0mbuusman on 2nu Naich 2u1S. Bei juiisuiction
anu authoiity is on the same lines as in the case of
othei 0mbuusmen uealing with the issue of
Ms. MiraPbailbus
Besiues thejuiisuictional anomaly iefeiieu
to above, the Auvisoi also complaineu of allegeu,
seiious political inteifeience in the woiking of the
office. Be saiu that staff was assigneu to the
0mbuusman's office by the piovincial goveinment
aibitiaiily without consultation. Staff was also
withuiawn in a whimsical mannei that was
uetiimental to oiueily uischaige of uuties by the
0mbuusman. Fuitheimoie, he saiu that the
"Woman anu Chilu Section" set up in the
0mbuusman's Secietaiiat hau been abiuptly
closeu uown anu as a iesult these vulneiable
membeis of society weie left with no iecouise
with iegaiu to ieuiessal of theii giievances. Be
alsoallegeu that thetenuieof the0mbuusman hau
been aibitiaiily ieuuceu fiom foui yeais to thiee
yeais foi noappaient ieason.
0thei chal l enges to the ef fective
functioning of the 0mbuusman's office weie those
ielateu to financial constiaints. Be saiu that the
buuget allocation foi the office was wholly
inauequate. As a iesult, it hau not been possible to
fill in all available staff positions, puichase
uigently iequiieu equipment incluuing office
equipment anu motoi vehicles, hiie appiopiiate
piemises in a goou location that was convenient
foi complainants, impait tiaining to staff anu
piopeily pioject the 0mbuusman's office thiough
an effective meuia campaign. Be explaineu that the
office location hau been shifteu foui times in the
last two yeais anu it hau still not been possible to
hiie an office in a cential location, making it veiy
ui ffi cul t foi compl ai nants to ieach the
0mbuusman. Also, uuiing a iecent visit to Beia
Ismail Khan, wheie the liteiacy iate was ielatively
bettei, he founu out that even aftei two yeais of its
existence no one hau any knowleuge of the
0mbuusman's office in B. I. Khan. Be saiu that this
22
anu theie aie some tentative inuications that these
effoits have begun to beai fiuit. 1u cases involving
haiassment of women at woikplace have been
fileu in the 0mbuusman's Secietaiiat, 2 cases aie
befoie the Enquiiy Committee foi heaiing, S cases
have been foiwaiueu to the conceineu
uepaitments foi heaiing anu S cases aie unuei
piocess.
As eviuent fiom the uiscussion above, the
office neeus uigent buugetaiy suppoit in oiuei to
be able to uo its woik in iight eainest. Without
appiopiiate accommouation anu auequate staff
the 0mbuusman can have no meaningful impact
on the taiget auuience. At the piesent time it is a
uiie challenge foi the 0mbuusman just to keep the
institution alive.
{viii]
Registrar
TbeFederal Umbudsman
ForProtectionAgainst Harassment
Uf Womenat tbeWorhplace
i. Aziz Iqbal, Registiai, 0ffice of the
Feueial 0mbuusman foi Piotection
Nagainst Baiassment of Women at the
Woikplace maue a piesentation to explain the
evolution of the office, its woiking anu the
challenges that it faceu. Be saiu that the Piotection
against Baiassment of Women at Woikplace Act
2u1uwas piomulgateu on 11thof Naich2u1uanu
the fiist 0mbuusman, Nusaiiat Billali was
appointeu on the 1Sth }anuaiy 2u11. Bowevei, the
office became fully functional fiom 1st }uly 2u11
with assignment of staff anu allocation of buuget
anu }ustice (Retu) Yasmin Abbasey was appointeu
Feueial 0mbuusman on 1SthNaich2u1S. Ni. Aziz
Iqbal explaineu that the statute was wiue ianging
Mr. AzizIqbal
piotection against haiassment of the women at
woikplace. The majoi challenge, as in the case of
othei such offices, is the lack of financial suppoit
pioviueu by the piovincial uoveinment. The office
has to catei to the neeus of the entiie Punjab
Piovince compiising S6 uistiicts anu having a
population of 1u1 million in which women
compiise S2 million. The 0mbuusman has been
pioviueu with only one small ioom foi the main
builuing of the 0mbuusman Punjab anu is utilizing
the seivices of mostly volunteei officials fiomthe
Punj ab 0mbuusman' s Seciet aii at . The
0mbuusman has no meaningful logistical suppoit
anu veiy limiteu access to the piint anu electionic
meuia. The 0mbuusman explaineu in hei
piesentation at the woikshop that hei pioblems
weie compounueu by the fact that the public
seems to be totally unawaie of the Piotection
against Baiassment 0f Women at Woikplace
(Amenument Act, 2u1u). It is thus, necessaiy to
fiist take the public into confiuence about the
i a t i ona l e f oi s et t i ng up t hi s of f i c e.
Notwithstanuing the fact that the Piovincial
uoveinment uiu not pioviue any funus to this
office a meuia campaign was staiteu topioject the
office almost as a peisonal initiative by the
0mbuusman heiself. Both electionic anu piint
meuia weie mobilizeu to infoimthe people about
the woiking of the 0mbuusman's office.
Euucational Institutions, incluuing Neuical
Colleges anu Teaching Bospitals weie also visiteu
by the 0mbuusman. The noteu 0scai Acauemy
Awaiu Winnei, Niss. Shaimeen 0baiu Chinoy, hau
been engageu to piepaie a uocumentaiy on the
subject of haiassment of women at woikplace.
In spite of the fact that the office has only
skeleton staff anu extiemely limiteu buuget,
effoits have been maue to implement the statute
23
uisplay(s) that uemeans, belittles, oi
causes peisonal humiliation, anu any act
of intimiuation oi thieat."
Thus, it stanus explaineu that 'haiassment'
uoes not have a puiely sexual connotation anu
'impiopei behavioi' of any kinu by an employei
against an employee anu even something as
abstiact as a 'hostile woik enviionment' comes
within thepuiviewof the0mbuusman.
Complaints ueemeu fit foi investigation aie
taken up by a foimally constituteu thiee membei
enquiiy committee incluuing one fiom senioi
management, a senioi iepiesentative of
employees (if theie is no CBA) anu at least one
woman membei. A chaiiman is uesignateu fiom
amongst the thiee membeis anu the committee is
iequiieu to submit its iepoit to the competent
authoiity within Su uays. If the complainee is helu
guilty then majoi oi minoi penalty may be levieu
in accoiuance with law. Repiesentation to the
Piesiuent of Pakistan may be fileu against the
penalty oiuei passeu by the competent authoiity
within Su uays anu uecision by the Piesiuent is
iequiieu to be maue within 9u uays. No couit oi
othei authoiity may inteivene once the
0mbuusman has invokeu his juiisuiction.
The auvisoi infoimeu that since inception,
a total of 1S7 applications of haiassment at
woikplace hau been fileu anu out of these, 72weie
founu to fall within the juiisuiction of the
0mbuusman anu weie taken up foi investigation.
66 complaints so ieceiveu hau been ueciueu anu 6
weie unuei piocess. The maximum complaints
ielate to the Feueial uoveinment (4u) followeu by
Punjab(18), Sinu(6), KPK (4), FATA(1) anu
Baluchistan (S). S1 of these complaints peitain to
women anu 21 to men. 6S complaints ielate to
public sectoi entities in which the Euucation
in scopeanu encompasseu most public anu piivate
sectoi entities incluuingbouies coipoiateanu they
aie all iequiieu by lawto take stiict cognizance of
any act that may be seen as haiassment. The teim
haiassment was taken tomean:
"Any unwelcome sexual auvance, iequest
foi sexual favoui oi othei veibal oi wiitten
communication oi physical conuuct of a
sexual natuie oi sexually uemanuing
attituues
c aus i ng i nt ei f eienc e wi t h woi k
peifoimance oi cieating an intimiuating,
hostileoi offensivewoikenviionment
The attempt to punish the complainant foi
iefusal to comply to such a iequest oi is
maueaconuition foi employment"
Ni. Aziz Iqbal claiifieu that although the
title in the statutoiy enactment iefeiieu to
'women' it was not coiiect to assume that the
0mbuusman coulu only take up complaints of
haiassment at woikplacefileu by awomen only. Be
saiu that the statute was genuei neutial anu both
men anu women victims of haiassment at the
woikplace coulu file complaints befoie the
0mbuusman. As iegaius the uefinition of
haiassment, he saiu that although it was bioau in
scope anu explaineu what haiassment entaileu yet
it was felt that it neeueu to be fuithei impioveu in
oiuei to bettei claiify its impoit. The amenueu
uefinition of haiassment has been pioposeu as
unuei:
"(a) an impiopei conuuct by an employei, that
is uiiecteu at anu offensive to employee
oi to feel that she oi he is woiking in a
hostileenviionment; oi
(b) any objectionable act(s), comment(s), oi
24
Fuitheimoie, juuicial allowance be appioveu foi
the 0mbuusman anu his employees as it was now
iecogni zeu that the woik uone by the
0mbuusman was quasi-juuicial in natuie
{ix]
MemberIncbarge
Regional Ufficeof tbe
UmbudsmanPun|ab
he Punjab 0mbuusman was establisheu in
1997 following enactment of the Punjab
T0ffice of the 0mbuusman Act 1997(Pb Act
X of 1997 uateu Su.u6.1997) that iepealeu eailiei
piomulgation of the Punjab 0ffice of the
0mbuusman 0iuinance 1997( XIvof 1997) by the
uoveinoi Punjab on 2S.u4.1997. Ni. NajamSaeeu
Nembei Inchaige Regional 0ffice of the Punjab
0mbuusman, Rawalpinui maue a piesentation in
the "Challenges 0mbuusmanship" Woikshop helu
unuei the auspices of the Foium of Pakistan
0mbuusman on 2S-26Septembei at Islamabau.
Ni. Najam Saeeu, Auvisoi Nembei In
chaige, piovincial 0mbuusman Punjab, saiu that
the foiemost task of the 0mbuusman was to
combat malauministiation in all its foims anu
manifestations anu to uiagnose, investigate,
ieuiess anu iectify wiongs committeu in this
context. Be saiu that in oiuei to achieve optimum
iesults the emphasis must be on iuentifying anu
iemeuying systemic pioblems in the agency
iesponsible foi malauministiation as in the long
iun this is the only way malauministiation can be
iooteu out peimanently. Be lamenteu that
unfoitunately a puiely buieauciatic appioach was
u s u a l l y f o l l o we u i n u e a l i n g wi t h
malauministiation anu was ciitical of the, in his
opinion, unuue emphasis on ieuiessing the
Mr. Na|am Saeed
Bepaitment was on top with19complaints. 0nly 9
complaints peitain tothepiivatesectoi.
Ni. Aziz Iqbal stateu that the office faces
many pioblems but its foiemost challenge was
wholly inauequate financial funuing. Be saiu that
paucity of funus maue it impossible foi the
0mbuusman to engage the iequiieu skilleu staff,
hiie a piopei builuing in a suitable location,
puichase essential uuiables incluuing office
equipment, motoi vehicles etc anu pioject the
0mbuusman's office in the piint anu electionic
meuia. Be saiu that much moie neeueu to be uone
anu foi which auuitional financial iesouices weie
uigently iequiieu. Be went on tosay that not many
people aie yet fully awaie of the aims anu objects
foi which the office was set up anu because of lack
of infoimation about thejuiisuiction anu authoiity
of the 0mbuusman the iesponse of aggiieveu
peisons to uate hau been iathei limiteu anu the
actual numbei of haiassment cases weie much
highei than what the figuies suggest. It is,
theiefoie, impeiative that the full impoit of the
office be biought home aggiessively anu social
taboos against filing a complaint against the
employei be effectively counteieu. Piopagation of
the 0mbuusman's message is not an easy task in
viewof theconseivativenatuieof oui society, ueep
seateu feai of losingajob, thewiuespieau illiteiacy
anu the geneial lack of knowleuge about the office
of the 0mbuusman anu its effectiveness in
pioviuingielief toaggiieveu peisons.
Ni. Aziz Iqbal saiu that in oiuei to ensuie
meaningful financial anu functional autonomy foi
the 0mbuusman, it was necessaiy to allocate
auequate financial iesouices to the office anu to
giant the 0mbuusman the authoiity to utilize the
funus in his best uiscietion. Foi this it was
necessaiy that a one line buuget be appioveu.
25
by the veiy excellence of his appioach that was
able to convince anu tiansfoim by powei of
aigument anu logic iathei than the thieat of action
foi Contempt.
{x]
Consultant
Provincial Umbudsman, Sindb
he office of the 0mbuusman, Sinuh, was
establisheu on 2Siu }anuaiy 1992 by 'The
TEstablishment of the 0ffice of the
0mbuusman Sinuh, Act 1991 (Sinuh Act No.1 of
1992). The office was iepoiteu to have ieceiveu a
total of 148,796complaints since its inception anu
out of these 4S, 68u weie aumitteu foi
investigation. SS,997 complaints weie uisposeu of
by the 0mbuusman since 1992 with ielief given to
complainant's in 2S,91S cases. Nost of the
complaints ieceiveu weieuiiecteu against officials
of the Police Bepaitment followeu by Euucation,
Revenue, Local uoveinment anu Agiicultuie,
Iiiigation anu Powei, Zakat anu 0shei, KNC anu
KBA. The 0mbuusman also ieceiveu 242
complaints peitaining to chiluien anu 1uS weie
ueciueu. 1Su Complaints weie fileu unuei the
Fieeuom of Infoimation Act of 2uu6 anu 8S
ueciueu. Repiesentations fileu against the
0mbuusman's iecommenuations befoie the
uoveinoi, Sinuh aie 4u4 with S72 ueciueu
incluuing S14 in which the 0mbuusman's
iecommenuations weieuphelu.
Among the challenges iuentifieu by Syeu
Nuhammau Shujaat Ali, Consultant, Piovincial
0mbuusman, Sinuh, saiu that the 0mbuusman
encounteieu consiueiable iesistance fiom
SyedMubammadSbu|aat Ali
symptoms of malauministiation put foith in
inuiviuual complaints iathei than auuiessing the
systemic causes of those acts. Be likeneu this
appioach to spiaying pesticiue on the leaves of an
afflicteu tiee when the sickness was actually in its
ioots.
Ni. Najam aigueu that the 0mbuusman
shoulu stiictly uesist fiom encioaching on the
uomain anu juiisuiction of the executive anu must
concentiate insteau on making iecommenuations
to ioot out malauministiation that aie so
peisuasive anu have been so well-foimulateu that
the executive has no hesitation oi ieluctance in
implementingthesameexpeuitiously in tiuelettei
anu spiiit. The cleai implication was that
implementation pioblems aiise when the
0mbuusman ueviates fiomthe iole that he ought
toplay as aibitei, meuiatoi anu pioblemsolvei anu
wittingly oi unwittingly staits inteifeiing in the
executives' juiisuiction anu theieby evokes a
negativeiesponse.
Coming to the Feueial 0mbuusmen
Institutional Refoims Act 2u1S (F0IRA) that was
wiuely seen as lanumaik legislation in the
empoweiment of Feueial 0mbuusmen, he was the
only paiticipant in the Woikshop to actually
ciiticize the amenuments intiouuceu thiough this
enactment. Be was of the opinion that the
attempteu empoweiment of Feueial 0mbuusmen
thiough such legislation was misguiueu as it hau
only succeeueu in tiansfoiming the 0mbuusman's
office into just anothei buieauciatic set-up like
any anti-coiiuption office manneu by police
peisonnel. Besaiu that insteau of concentiatingon
enfoicing compliance with iecommenuations by
invoking statutoiy authoiity confeiieu by allegeu
haish laws like F0IRA the 0mbuusman must aim
at convincing complainees to followthe iight path
2
The Consultant, Piovincial 0mbuusman
was of the opinion that the 0mbuusman was
hampeieu in implementing his iecommenuations
effectively as helackeu statutoiyauthoiity togiant
tempoiaiy injunctions anu initiate Contempt
action foi uefianceof his iecommenuations.
{xi]
Director
UmbudsmanA) &K
he 0ffice of the 0mbuusman A}&K was
establisheu in 1991thiougha Piesiuential
T0iuinance that was subsequently auopteu
as an Act (XIvof 1992) by the Legislative Assembly
of Azau }ammuanu Kashmii whichcame intofoice
on 24th }une 1992. Since its inception it has
uisposeu of a total of S86 iecommenuations maue
by the 0mbuusman while anothei S14 weie yet
penuing implementation. Lack of auequate
finances was iuentifieu as amajoi challengefoi the
office pieventing the setting up of the iequiieu
numbei of iegional offices that woulu have gieatly
facilitateu the 0mbuusman's outieach. Ni. Absai
Alam , Biiectoi, 0mbuusman A}&K saiu that
Sections 16anu S6of the 0mbuusman Statute (Act
XIv of 1992) weie iepealeu in }une 1996 which
auveisely impacteu on the authoiity of the
0mbuusman, especially in his ability toimplement
iecommenuations effectively. Be saiu that these
poweis weie available to othei 0mbuusmen anu
theie was no justification to uepiive the A}&K
0mbuusman of the same. Be fuithei pointeu out
that significant juiisuictional issues beset the
office anu pieventeu the 0mbuusman fiom
uealing with malauministiation in A}&K
uoveinment Bepaitment's effectively. In this
context he saiu that the Bepaitments of Excise anu
Mr. AbsarAlam
goveinment uepaitments anu autonomous bouies
i n expeui t i ous i mpl ement at i on of t he
0mbuusman's iecommenuations anu uelibeiate
auoption of tactics to uelay theii implementation
theieby hinueiing ieuiessal of complainant's
giievances. Buugetaiy constiaints aie also
iuentifieu as a majoi challenge that pieventeu the
0mbuusman fiom piopeily implementing his
manuate. It was pointeu out that lack of finances
pieventeu the 0mbuusman fiom setting up
iegional offices to facilitate outieach making it
veiy uifficult foi aggiieveu peisons to have easy
access to the 0mbuusman. Aftei gieat uifficulty 1S
iegional offices weie set up in uiffeient uistiicts of
the piovince but 8 uistiicts aie still not coveieu.
The lack of finances also pieventeu the
0mbuusman fiom launching a piomotional
campaign foi the office in the piint anu electionic
meuia. This is ciucial to cieate awaieness about
the0mbuusman 0fficeamongst thepeopleas even
aftei lapse of many yeais since its inception the
people weie not well-infoimeu about the
0mbuusman. Setting up of a Chiluien Complaints
0ffice in the 0mbuusman Secietaiiat in
collaboiation with the 0NICEF was citeu as an
achievement but it has auueu to the woikloau anu
has incieaseu piessuie on finances. The Chiluien
Complaint 0ffice is uesigneu to ueal with chilu
abuse such as exploitation of chilu laboi, physical
abuse at woikplace anu mistieatment of juvenile
piisoneis. This was a new aiea foi the
0mbuusman anu was seen abigchallengefoi him.
Ni. Shujat Ali saiu that uespite incieasing
woikloau, mouein techniques of uata stoiage,
collation anu ietiieval hau not been put into place
which was necessaiy to maintain efficiency at
acceptable levels. Piogiess in this aiea was also
helu up uuetolackof finances.
27
hau wiue-ianging scope anu incluueu all
goveinment uepaitments, coipoiati ons,
autonomous anu semi autonomous bouies anu
public sectoi oiganizations within its ambit. As pei
section S of the Statute eveiy oiganization is
bounu to constitute an enquiiy committee unuei
this Act within Su uays of its enactment consisting
of at least Smembeis incluuingasenioi membei of
management, a senioi iepiesentative of
employees anu at least onewoman membei.
Ni. Laiik went on to say that the
0mbuusman's office faces a majoi challenge
ielateu to non-availability of funus foi its uay to
uay opeiations anu the seiiousness of the pioblem
was highlighteu by pointing out that although the
Secietaiiat was establisheu on 22nu 0ctobei
2u12, appointment of officeis anu staff took place
in Nay 2u1S but theie hau been only limiteu
uisbuisement of salaiies to uate. Auuitionally,
gieat uifficulty has been expeiienceu in secuiing
piopei accommouation. 0nly two iooms have
been assigneu tothe officein the SinuhSecietaiiat,
Kaiachi. In oiuei to ieach out to the public at laige
the 0mbuusman uiiecteu the establishment of
Bistiict Complaint Centeis anu 27 Beputy
Commissioneis weie foimally appioacheu in this
iegaiu. Bowevei, the iesponse has been extiemely
pooi anu only 7 Beputy Commissioneis agieeu to
pioviuetheiequiieu accommouation.
Lack of the awaieness about the woik uone
by the 0mbuusman is a majoi impeuiment in the
piopei activation of this office. Nany women aie
eithei not fully awaie of its existence oi aie
confuseu about the juiisuiction anu extent of
authoiity of the 0mbuusman. Because of
wiuespieau illiteiacy anu the conseivative
complexion of society, women aie geneially
hesitant to come foith anu file complaints against
Taxation, Accountant ueneial's 0ffice, anu
Kashmii Council Secietaiiat seiveu the public but
uiu not fall in the 0mbuusman's juiisuiction.
Nalauministiation by its employees coulu
theiefoie not be contesteu befoie the A}&K
0mb u u s ma n . S i mi l a i l y, t h e S p e c i a l
Communication 0iganization (SC0) was also
seiving the people of A} & K but uiu not fall in the
pieviewof the0mbuusman.
Ni. Absai Al am mai nt ai neu t hat
empoweiment of the 0mbuusman was a majoi
issue anu neeueu to be iesolveu uigently as
without the iequiieu authoiity unuei the statute it
was not possible foi the 0mbuusman to iemain
effective. It was uigeu that the poweis confeiieu
on Feueial 0mbuusman thiough the Feueial
0mbuusmen Institutional Refoims Act, 2u1S be
auopteu foi theA} &K 0mbuusman as well.
{xii]
Assistant Registrar
SindbUmbudsmanForProtection
Against
Harassment of Womenat tbe
Worhplace.
i. Saua Bussain Laiik, Assistant
Registiai, Sinuh 0mbuusman foi
NPiotection against Baiassment of
Women at Woikplace maue a piesentation on the
evolution of this office anu the woik uone since its
inception on Sth }uly 2u12 following enactment of
the Piotection against Baiassment of Women at
Woikplace Act 2u1u(Act No. Ivof 2u1uuateu 11th
Naich 2u1u) anu foimei juuge of Sinu Bigh Couit
Syeu Pii Ali Shah was appointeu as fiist
0mbuusman of thenewly- cieateu office.
Ni. Saua Bussain Laiik explaineu that the
legislation thiough which the office was cieateu,
Mr. SadaHussainLarih
28
he ueemeu fit as in the case of the Feueial
0mbuusman. Such financial autonomy was a
conuition pieceuent to full-functional autonomy
without which the 0mbuusman woulu not be able
to piopeily implement the manuate in the mannei
envisageu by those who passeu the legislation
setting up the office. Although a fewcomplaints of
haiassment of women in the woikplace have been
ieceiveu in the 0mbuusman Secietaiiat no
significant piogiess hau been maue so fai in
uealing with these cases. Finally, Ni. Saua Bussain
Laiik aigueu stiongly that }uuicial Allowance be
alloweu to the 0mbuusman as well as all suppoit
staff as it hau been acknowleugeu by the Couits
that the 0mbuusman's office was a quasi juuicial
foium.
{xiii]
UmbudsmanforProtectionagainst
Harassment of Womenat
Worhplace.
ustice (Retu) Yasmin Abbasey sought to allay
the feais of those who appiehenueu that the
}
iights of woiking men who aie haiasseu at the
woikplace might be compiomiseu as the
0mbuusman woulu be conceineu with pioviuing
piotection against woikplace haiassment to
women exclusively. The ombuuspeison explaineu
that it was not coiiect to infei fiomthe title of the
office that it was mean't to catei to complaints of
haiassment fiom women alone. She claiifieu that
both men anu women weie incluueu in the
0mbuusman's juiisuiction anu the title alone uiu
not convey the full scope of the piotection
envisageu unuei the lawto woiking 'peisons' anu
the woiu 'peison' was genuei neutial anu
encompasseu both woiking men as well as
women.
)ustice{Retd] YasminAbbasey
theii employeis. When they aie willing to uo so,
they woulu iathei allege financial coiiuption than
woikplace haiassment. Theie is also a ueep
seateu, unueilying feai of losing a job anu being
uepiiveu of a souice of livelihoou in case
complaints aiefileu against employeis.
Ni. Laiik saiu that in oiuei to ensuie that
the 0mbuusman's office is piojecteu effectively, a
conceiteu campaign neeueu to be launcheu
thiough the piint anu electionic meuia. Bowevei,
the acute shoitage of financial iesouices hau
pieventeu any initiativein this iegaiu.
Although on papei, staff anu officeis hau
been assigneu to the 0mbuusman's office by the
Piovincial uoveinment, yet in fact in most cases,
the officials ueputeu to woik in the 0mbuusman's
Secietaiiat hau not been able to obtain ielease
oiueis fiomtheii paient uepaitments anu assume
chaige in the 0mbuusman's office. Resultantly,
most of the posts weie still lying vacant. As alieauy
pointeu out above, it hau not been possibletomake
fiesh ieciuitments as the iequiieu funus hau not
been allocateu. The skeleton staff that was
available in the 0mbuusman's Secietaiiat was
laigely untiaineu anu was not in a position to
conuuct meaningful investigations.
Ni. Laiik fuithei emphasizeu that although
theofficeof the0mbuusman foi Piotection against
Baiassment of Women at Woikplace hau been
cieateu in the Piovince of Sinuh, veiy little hau
been uone by way of pioviuing the iequiieu
suppoit facilities anu infia-stiuctuie that woulu
enable the office to actually stait uoing the woik
foi which it was set up. It was impeiative that the
iequiieu financial allocation be maue without any
fuithei loss of time anu when the funus aie maue
available the 0mbuusman shoulu have the
uiscietion to allocate the funus in the mannei that
29
neeueu to be put into effect anu it was also
necessaiy toextenu the0mbuusman's outieachby
makinghei piesenceknown fai anu wiue.
The 0mbuusman uiewattention to the fact
that aftei enactment of the lanumaik, 'Feueial
0mbuusmen Institutional Refoims 0iuinance
2u1S,' (section-18 theieof) any mattei peitaining
to woikplace haiassment coulu not be taken up by
any authoiity oi couit othei than the uuly
appointeu 0mbuusman. She iegietteu that the full
impoit of the legislation uiu not appeai to be
eviuent to those chaigeu with aujuuicating
woikplace haiassment cases anu she pioposeu
that in oiuei to explain the coiiect statutoiy
position it was necessaiy that a panel of qualifieu
counsel appeai befoie the couit oi authoiity that
takes up such cases foi uisposal anu explains the
lawto thempiopeily anu effectively so as to biing
to an enu any casual encioachment of the
0mbuusman's juiisuiction.
}ustice (Retu) Abbasey emphasizeu that a
conuition pieceuent to making the office of the
0mbuusman foi Piotection against Baiassment of
Women at Woikplace tiuly effective as a ielief
giving office it was essential that ieasonable funus
be maue available to enable the office to caiiy on
the woikit was set up foi. She saiu that the existing
financial allocation was wholly inauequate anu
iequiieu to be incieaseu substantially so as to
ensuie the financial anu functional autonomy of
theinstitution.
Fi nal ly, the 0mbuusman maue an
impassioneu plea exhoiting all those (women as
well as men) who hau suffeieu woikplace
haiassment in any foim to have the couiage to
come foiwaiu anu file a complaint calling foi stiict
action against the peipetiatois of such wiong
uoing. She saiu that this was the only way that the
}ustice (Retu) Abbasey went on to say that
in oiuei to make the lawpeitaining to pievention
of woikplacehaiassment moieeffective, anumbei
of amenuments hau been pioposeu. The fiist
ielates to substituting the woiu "peisons" foi the
existing, "women," in the title of the office. The
seconu amenument ielates to enlaiging the
uefinition of "Baiassment" to incluue all soits of
haiassment anu not meiely "Sexual Baiassment."
The 0mbuusman was of the view that it was
possible to haiass a woiking peison by a numbei
of uiffeient methous anu making oveit sexual
auvances was only one of those methous. She saiu
that it woulu be simplistic, even naive to link
woikplace haiassment exclusively to sexual
haiassment anu it was foi this ieason that the
woiu "Baiassment" alone was ueemeu sufficient
as it woulu incluue all soits of haiassment within
its puiview.
The Feueial 0mbuusman foi Piotection
against Baiassment of Women at Woikplace saiu
that Pakistan coulu be justly piouu foi enacting a
special law to take cognizance of woikplace
haiassment especially of women anu sheinfoimeu
that Pakistan was the only countiy in Asia to
foimally pass suchlegislation.
}ustice (Retu) Abbasey lamenteu the fact
that although the 0mbuusman office was cieateu
in Pakistan way back in 198S not many people
weie awaie of its existence oi its impoit. She saiu
that even as iegaius the 0mbuusman foi
Piotection against Baiassment of Women at
Woikplace the geneial awaieness of the public at
laige about the office was extiemely limiteu. She
attiibuteu such inuiffeience to lack of any
sustaineu campaign to publicize the 0mbuusman
institution thioughthe piint anu electionic meuia.
In hei view a sustaineu awaieness piogiam
30
evil of woikplace haiassment coulu be counteieu
effectively.
The 0mbuusman hau eailiei paiticipateu
in a lively Question anu Answei session aftei the
piesentation maue by Ns. Niia Phailbus, Punjab
0mbuusman foi Piotection against Baiassment of
Women at Woikplace. Shefielueu aquestion fiom
one of the paiticipants in the Woikshop that the
woiu "Baiassment" was not unueistoou by the
common man anu shoulu theiefoie be substituteu
by anothei, moie compiehensible, teim. In hei
iesponse she opineu that unfoitunately not much
attention was paiu to the text of statutoiy
enactments. She pointeu out that "haiassment"
was a ueiivative of "Baiassa" which was easily
unueistoou in its veinaculai foim. It was also
pointeu out that the woiu "haiassment" was
auopteu in consultation with eminent 0iuu anu
English language specialists anu it was theii
31
Cbapter III
Analysis
32
) 8ockground
he0mbuusman's office, in thefiist quaitei
of the 21st centuiy, exists in 144soveieign
TStates out of the 196 placeu on the woilu
map. The gieat maj oii ty have mul ti pl e
0mbuusman offices both at the national as well as
iegional levels. In a numbei of juiisuictions, the
0mbuusman has migiateu, as it weie, fiom the
public sectoi to the piivate sectoi as well. The
0mbuusman is theiefoie no longei a monolithic
entity piesiuing exclusively ovei a vast State
buieauciacy. Rathei, while the tiauitional National
0mbuusman may still be a uominant office, theie
aie also othei 0mbuusman offices that catei to
specific segments of the public anu piivate sectois
each with theii own special spheie of activity.
Collectively theiefoie, an 0mbuusman family is a
common featuiein almost eveiy mouein State.
Pakistan embiaceu the 0mbuusman's
office, ie-boin in theeaily 19thCentuiy in Sweuen,
in 198S when the office of the Wafaqi Nohtasib
(Feueial 0mbuusman) was cieateu. Since then,
eleven othei 0mbuusman offices have been
establisheu. We thus, have five 0mbuusmen
cateiing to the uiveise neeus of the Feueiation anu
seven to those of the piovincial goveinments anu
Azau }ammu & Kashmii (A}&K). The position is
summaiizeu below:
Tbe Wafaqi Mobtasib {Federal Umbudsman -
1983],
Piesiuent's 0iuei No.1 of 198S (Wafaqi Nohtasib
(0mbuusman) 0iuei 198S
TbeSindbUmbudsman- 1992
SinuhAct No.1of 1992
TbeA)&KUmbudsman- 1992
Establishment of the office of the Nohtasib
(0mbuusman) in Azau }ammu&Kashmii Act 1992
TbePun|abUmbudsman- 1997
The Punjab 0ffice of the 0mbuusman Act,1997
(Act X of 1997)
TbeFederal Tax Umbudsman- 2000,
Establishment of the 0ffice of the Feueial Tax
0mbuusman 0iuinance 2uuu; 0RBINANCE N0.
XXXv0F2uuuenacteu 11thAugust 2uuu.
TbeBalocbistanUmbudsman- 2001
0iuinancevI of 2uu1
TbeInsuranceUmbudsman- 200
The Insuiance 0iuinance of 2uuu (0iuinance
No.XXXIX of 2uuu), the fiist Feueial Insuiance
0mbuusman (FI0) was appointeuin 2uu6.
Tbe Sindb Umbudsman for tbe Protection of
Women against Harassment at Worhplace -
2010
TbeKbyberPahbtunhbwaUmbudsman-2010
Act XIvof 2u1u
Tbe Federal Umbudsman for tbe Protection of
Womenfrom Harassment at Worhplace- 2011
Piotection against Baiassment of Women at
Woikplace Act 2u1u was piomulgateu on 11th of
Naich 2u1u anu Ns. Nussaiiat Bilalli was
appointeuFeueial 0mbuusman
Tbe Pun|ab Umbudsman for tbe Protection
against Harassment of Women at Worhplace
{Amendment] Act 2012
Act III of 2u1S
TbeBanhingMobtasib{Umbudsman] - 2013
BANKINu C0NPANIES 0RBINANCE 1962 ; PART
IvA: BANKINu N0BTASIB 82A. Appointment of
33
Nohtasib
All of the above 0mbuusmen, whatevei
theii manuate, aieuniteu in onecommon objective
- combating malauministiation anu aiming foi
goou goveinance.
n 1Sth Apiil 2u11, Bi. Shoaib Suuule,
Feueial Tax 0mbuusman; Ni. Azhai
0Faiooqi, Insuiance 0mbuusman; Ni.
Nansui-ui-Rehman Khan, Banking 0mbuusman;
Ni. Khaliu Nahmoou, Punjab 0mbuusman, Ni.
Asau Ashiaf Nalik, Sinuh 0mbuusman; Ni.
Baushah uul Wazii, Khybei Pakhtoonkhwa
0mbuusman; Ni. Ali Akbai Baloch, Balochistan
0mbuusman; anu Ni. Nuhammau Rashiu Khan, A}
& K 0mbuusman) got togethei in Islamabau anu,
aftei uiscussing at length the piessing neeu to set
up a common platfoim of Pakistan 0mbuusmen,
foimeu the Foiumof Pakistan 0mbuusman which
is affiliateu to the Asian 0mbuusman Association
(A0A) anu the Inteinational 0mbuusman Institute
(I0I). The Foium of Pakistan 0mbuusman (FP0)
was set up with the objective of impioving
cooiui nat i on among t he membeis anu
stanuaiuizing theii piactices, as also foi iaising
theii capacity anu enhancing the quality of theii
seivice-ueliveiy. It was stiongly felt that ensuiing
effective accountability of countiy's public
functionaiies against malauministiation thiough
0mbuusmanship was a sine quonon foi piomoting
goou goveinancein Pakistan.
The FP0 unanimously electeu Bi. Shoaib
Suuule as its Piesiuent, while Ni. Khaliu
Nahmoou, Ni. Baushah uul Wazii anu Ni.
Nansui-ui-Rehman Khan weie electeu as vice
) The Forum oj Pokston Ombudsmon
Piesiuent, Secietaiy, anu Tieasuiei iespectively.
The FP0 also iesolveu to take up seveial
new initiatives to make the 0mbuusman seivices
moie tianspaient anu effective, anu to tiansfoim
the Foium into a vibiant anu cieuible }ustice
sectoi public seiviceoiganization.
T h e t w o u a y ' C h a l l e n g e s o f
0mbuusmanship' Woikshop-2Sth anu 26th
Septembei 2u1S- was oiganizeu by the Pakistan
Foium of 0mbuusman as pait of its capacity
builuingeffoit foi themembeis of thefoiumanu to
inciease public awaieness about the 0mbuusman
Institution in Pakistan.
t a time when the 'fiscal ciunch' is a
ubiquitous, inueeu, a global phenomena,
Awi t h al teinate f oia aggiessivel y
competi ng foi f i nanci al iesouices, the
0mbuusmen, notwithstanuing theii somewhat
piivilegeu position, cannot expect tobe immune to
such piessuies. As obseiveu by Beveily A. Wakem
CBE, Chief 0mbuusman, New Zealanu anu then
Piesiuent of the I0I in a piesentation to the 12th
Confeienceof theA0A, }apan, Nov 2u11:
"The biggest challenge foi all of us is to
iemain ielevant anu iesponsive anu to
manage oui constiaineu iesouices to best
effect."
Bowevei, while it is essential that
0mbuusmen leain to live within theii means, at
the same time it is impeiative that they be
pioviueu with iesouices sufficient foi them to
caiiy out theii statutoiy manuate. In this
Woikshop the piesentation maue by the
) Fsco! lmperotves
34
v) Humon kghts
uman iights issues have come to the foie
in iecent yeais anu havealsoimpacteu on
Bthe 0mbuusman's office. Neeuless to say
this is not a tiauitional aiea of concein foi the
0mbuusman. Bowevei, the numbei of human
iights institutions has suigeu uiamatically ovei
the past thiee uecaues anu a vaiiety of foices have
got the 0mbuusman involveu in uealing with such
issues. Woiluwiue, the giowth in the numbei of
0mbuusmen uealing with human iights issues has
been nothing shoit of explosive as is eviuent fiom
the fact that touay at least half of the 0mbuusman
institutions in the woilu ueal with human iights
issues, many peitainingtowomen anu chiluien.
The evolution of law ielating to woikplace
haiassment anu the cieation of 0mbuusman
offices toueal withtheissueis summaiizeu below:
}anuaiy 21, 2u1u Senate Passes Bill Against
Baiassment 0f Women At Woikplace
The Senate of Pakistan passeu a bill to fuithei
amenu the Pakistan Penal Coue 186u anu the
Coue of Ciiminal Pioceuuie 1898 against
sexual haiassment at the woikplace, amiu
stiongciiticismfiomieligious paities.
}anuaiy 22, 2u1u Pakistan Cleais Lanumaik
Bill Against WoikplaceBaiassment
0veicoming conseivative opposition foi yeais,
the National Assembly unanimously passeu a
lanumaik bill to punish haiassment of women
at woikpl aces, t hough l ast - mi nut e
amenuments extenueu the piotection also to
men as an appaient compiomise.
}anuaiy Su, 2u1uBill Signeu IntoLawFoi Women
Piotection Against Baiassment In Pakistan
Balochistan anu KPK 0mbuusmen anu the Sinuh
anu Punjab 0mbuusmen foi the Piotection of
Women fiomBaiassment at the Woikplace maue
it all too eviuent that they weie placeu in an
extiemely uifficult situation in which even baie
minimumneeus weie not being met anu the veiy
viability of the offices hau been put into question.
The situation was especially bau foi Woikplace
Baiassment 0mbuusmen anu it was obvious that
they hau been foiceu to fenu foi themselves anu
suivive on au-hoc hanuouts fiom the piovincial
govei nment . They hau no pei manent
accommouation anu weie being askeu to make uo
with sub-stanuaiu woik places giuugingly maue
available in the piovincial goveinment secietaiiat
oi thepiovincial 0mbuusman secietaiiat.
Setting up 0mbuusman offices entails
expenuituie anu while theie is no uoubt that the
expenuituie is justifieu as malauministiation
makes the woikfoice anu oiganizations much less
efficient than theii potential capacity, the fact is
that the 0mbuusman has to compete with othei
entities foi iesouices. 0ne of the obvious ways to
save on expenuituie is foi the 0mbuusman to uo
multiple tasks. Thus, insteau of having a sepaiate
0mbuusman to hanule complaints peitaining to
chiluien the Wafaqi Nohtasib - Feueial
0mbuusman - anu the Sinuh 0mbuusman both
have set up Chilu Complaint 0ffices (CC0) that
ieceive, investigate anu uispose of complaints'
involving chilu iights abuse. This, of couise, is a
uiain on theii existing financial iesouices but is
ueemeu to be justifieu consiueiing the sensitivity
of the issue anu the piioiity attacheu to ieuiessing
chilu giievance.
Similaily, complaints fileu unuei the
Fieeuomof Infoimation 0iuinance, 2uu2 aie also
beingieceiveu in the0mbuusmen offices.
35
most common types of haiassment is
sexual haiassment which is uefineu as an
unethical coue of conuuct which a woman
f i nus t hi e a t e ni ng oi of f e ns i ve
(uoonesekeie, 2uu4). This unwanteu sex-
ielateu behavioi (Fitzgeialu, Swan, &
Nagley, 1997) anu concealing the
phenomena is a pait anu paicel of all
occupations anu inuustiies (Bunt,
Baviuson, Fieluen & Boel, 2uu7). It coulu
be in the foim of genuei haiassment (e.g.,
veibalnonveibal behavioi abuse); oi
unethical act foi gaining attention (e.g.,
touching, calling); oi sexual coeicion (e.g.,
sexual biibes oi thieats) (Fitzgeialu,
uelfanu, &Biasgow, 199S). . . . . . . . . . . . .
Accoiuing toPaiveen (2u1u), a total 24119
of violence against women cases weie
iepoiteu in Pakistan uuiing 2uu8-1u
among which only S2u woikplace
haiassment cases weiefileu."
|Sexual Baiassment at Woikplace in Pakistan- Issues anu
Remeuies about the ulobal Issue at Nanageiial Sectoi
Nunii Noosa Sauiuuuin- }ouinal of Nanageiial
Sciences volume vII Numbei 1j
The uelibeiate cieation of psychologically
stiessful situations at woikplace employing a
vaiiety of techniques all contiiveu to coeice the
female woikei into submission is piobably of
gieatei significance as a long teim issue. The
Feueial Woikplace Baiassment 0mbuusman
opineu uuiing the uelibeiations that the statute
envisages cognizance of haiassment complaints
fiom both genueis, men anu women anu it was
wiong to assume that the 0mbuusman cateieu to
women's woikplace haiassment issues only. No
such views weie expiesseu by Sinuh anu the
Punjab Woikplace Baiassment 0mbuusman foi
Piotection against Baiassment of Women at
Pakistan maue women piotection bill into law
when Piesiuent signeu the 'Piotection against
Baiassment of Women at Woikplace Bill 2uu9'
whichthepailiament auopteu on }anuaiy 21.
Naich 9, 2u1u Piesi uent Si gns Bi l l :
Baiassment 0f Women Is NowACiime
1Sth }anuaiy 2u11 - Ns Nusaiiat Billali was
appointeu the fiist Feueial 0mbuusman foi
Piotection against Baiassment of Women at
Woikplace.
Sth }uly 2u12 - Syeu Pii Ali Shah foimei }uuge
of Bigh Couit of Sinuh, Kaiachi, was appointeu
Sinuh 0mbuusman foi Piotection of Women at
Woikplace.
Sth }anuaiy 2u1S - enactment of the Punjab
Piotection against Baiassment of Women at
the Woik Place (Amenument) Act 2u12 (Act III
of 2u1S) anu Piof. Bi. Niia Phailbus was
appointeu as Punjab 0mbuusman on 2nu
Naich2u1S.
1Sth Naich 2u1S - }ustice (Retu) Yasmin
Abbasey was appointeu Feueial 0mbuusman
foi Piotection of Women against Woikplace
Baiassment.
The haiassment of woiking women at
woikplace is one of the most unpleasant iealities
of oui times. Buiing the woikshop uelibeiations it
was agieeu that oveit sexual haiassment is not the
only foim of haiassment suffeieu by the woiking
women, though it well be the most talkeu about,
but also theie aie othei foims of haiassment.
Bowevei,
" The 0niteu Nations uefines haiassment
as a kinu of behavioui (veibal oi physical)
that hinueis woikoi piomotes an offensive
woik enviionment (0N, n.u.). 0ne of the
3
Woikplace, howevei. Noi uiu they inuicate that
they hau any plans to enteitain complaints of
woikplace haiassment fiom men. While theie is
nououbt that woikplacehaiassment is an issuefoi
both male anu female woikeis howevei, the
mannei in which the legislation has been enacteu
in Pakistan, especially, the title of the statute, it
appeais to suggest that the female woikei was the
uominant concein of the legislatuie at the time of
theenactment.
Theie can be little uoubt that women anu
chiluien both constitute vulneiable membeis of
oui male uominateu society. Both aie pione to
maltieatment. In the case of the woiking woman it
is usually the male employei but not necessaiily so
as male cowoikeis can alsoconspiie totaiget theii
fellow female woikeis in an enviionment wheie
they woik siue by siue. Anu while the statute uoes
iefei specifically to "Piotection of Women fiom
Baiassment at Woikplace" the fact is that in the
ieal woilu male woikeis also face haiassment at
Woikplace. Bowevei, if it is the objective to take
cognizance of woikplace haiassment of both male
anu female woikeis it woulu be bettei if the title of
thelegislation is suitably amenueu.
Theie was a suggestion uuiing the
woikshop uelibeiations that chiluien's iights
issues can be uealt with by the 0mbuusman foi
Piotection against Baiassment at Woikplace
iathei than a sepaiate 0mbuusman foi chiluien's
iights as aftei the passage of the 18th Amenument
totheConstitution chiluien's iights in Pakistan aie
a piovincial issue anu it may not be feasible,
theiefoie, to have a Feueial 0mbuusman foi
Chiluien. Be that as it may, it is a fact that the
Feueial 0mbuusman has set up a sepaiate section
foi Chilu Rights anu a Commissionei foi chiluien's
iights has also been appointeu. The well-being of
chiluien is a mattei foi concein at all levels,
Piovi nc i al anu Feueial what evei t he
Constitutional impeiatives. Chilu haiassment
takes many uiffeient foims anu can take place at
home, at awoikplaceoi at aschool.
0ne of the Pakistan's leauing chilu
auvocacy gioups, Society foi the Piotection of the
Rights of theChilu (SPARC), in its iepoit "TheState
of Pakistan's Chiluien, 2u12" painteu a bleak
pictuie anu ievealeu that aiounu 2S million
chiluien weie out of school anu almost 12 million
chiluien weie victimof chilu-laboi in 2u12. It also
highlighteu the apathy of the go anu chilu iights
conciete measuies hau been taken to enact
compiehensive chilu laboi legislation in the
afteimath of the 18th amenument to the
constitution. The iepoit saiu that Pakistan iankeu
seconu in the woilu foi most out of school chiluien
anu was placeu at 11Sth position out of the 12u
countiies on the Euucation Bevelopment Inuex as
it hau ieuuceu spenuing on euucation fiom 2.6%
to 2.S% of uNP ovei the last ten yeais. Noie than
S,6S9 cases of violence against chiluien weie
iecoiueu in 2u12 that incluue 94S muiueis, 26u
missing chiluien, 164 Kaio Kaii inciuents, 41u
foiceu maiiiages 2u4 cases of chilu tiafficking,
117u injuiies, Su2 cases of souomy etc. The uione
attackeu chiluien alsonumbeieu aiounu 197.
uiven the uaunting scenaiio uesciibeu
above it woulu seem to make eminent sense to
uevise a mechanism that woulu allow foi the
appointment of a National 0mbuusman foi
Chiluien's Rights in Pakistan.
37
statutoiy empoweiment of the 0mbuusman
unnecessaiy anu even uncalleu foi. Bis viewis that
the 0mbuusman must not use coeicive poweis of
any kinu in oiuei to ensuie compliance of his
iecommenuations because if he weie to uo so he
woulu be encioaching on the uomain of the
executive. While not uenying the significance of
i mpl ement at i on of t he 0mbuus man' s
iecommenuations the Punjab 0mbuusman was of
the view that theii implementation woulu be
assuieu if they weiepiopeily foimulateu anu weie
seen to be logically convincing anu theie woulu be
no neeu then to thieaten oi intimiuate the
Complainee by invoking statutoiy powei to holu a
peison in Contempt. The moial authoiity of the
0mbuusman was thus seen as theieal souiceof his
stiength.
In the Westein juiisuictions it is a fact that
the 0mbuusman is not investeu with statutoiy
authoiity of the kinu laiu uown in F0IRA anu his
moial authoiity alone is noimally sufficient to
ensuie that his wiit pievails. Bowevei, these aie
auvanceu uemociatic countiies with veiy well
uevelopeu institutions, high liteiacy, a poweiful
meuia, lowcoiiuption, highpei capita income anu
a social seivices piotective fiamewoik available to
most citizens. Noneof this holus tiuein ueveloping
countiies like Pakistan anu the exact opposite is
usually the noimin each of the categoiies iefeiieu
to above. In such an enviionment 'moial suasion'
alone is ineffective anu the ombuusman cannot
iealistically iely on his moial authoiity to enfoice
compliance of his iecommenuations. It is thiough
these iecommenuations that the 0mbuusman
gives ielief to those who aie aggiieveu by the
malauministiation of public functionaiies anu
employeis excesses against theii woikeis. It is
theiefoie impeiative that the iecommenuations
v) Empowerng the Ombudsmon
to be ejjectve
mpowei ment of t he Pi ovi nc i al
0mbuusman anu the 0mbuusman foi the
EPiotection against Baiassment of Women
at Woikplace by investing them with the same
statutoiy authoiity as confeiieu on Feueial
0mbuusmen thiough the Feueial 0mbuusmen
Institutional Refoims Act, 2u1S(F0IRA) was seen
by all paiticipants, baiiing the iepiesentative of
the Punjab 0mbuusman, Ni. Najam Saeeu,
Nembei, Punjab 0mbuusman, Regional 0ffice,
Rawalpinui, as essential toenablethe0mbuusman
to be an effective entity especially with iegaiu to
implementation of his iecommenuations.
Implementation pioblems plague all 0mbuusmen,
unueimine theii authoiity anu cieate iesentment
among complainants when the iecommenuations
aie not implementeu in time. The enactment of
F0IRA in Naich 2u1S has maue it possible foi all
Feueial 0mbuusmen to take action foi Contempt
against a peison who uefies oi obstiucts the
piocess of the 0mbuusman in the same mannei as
a juuge of the Supieme Couit. F0IRA also invests
the 0mbuusman with authoiity to giant an
injunction, oiuei a stay of pioceeuings anu to
enfoice compliance of iecommenuations by
invoking poweis as available to a Civil }uuge unuei
the Civil Pioceuuie Coue. Bowevei, it woulu be up
to the iespective Piovincial uoveinments to auopt
the F0IRA amenuments if they ueem the same
feasible anu necessaiy in the context of
empoweiment of t he 0mbuusman anu
incoipoiate the same in theii iespective statutes.
As pointeu out above, the Punjab 0mbuusman was
the sole voice of uissent anu consiueieu the
38
stiuck uown the Piesiuent's uecisions in
iepiesentations fileu against the 0mbuusman's
oiueis when the Piesiuent is seen to have iuleu
against the 0mbuusman's oiueis in a summaiy
mannei thiough a non-speaking oiuei (2u11-
CLB-174S-KBC-Sinuh); (2u11-CLC-2uu2-KBC-
Sinuh);(2uu9-PLB-1978-LBC-Lahoie);(2uu9-
PLB-9SS-LBC-Lahoie).|seeattacheu Annexuies j
uiing the Woikshop uelibeiations all
0mbuusmen acknowleugeu a neeu to
Benhance theii efficiency by making use of
Infoimation anu Communication Technology
(ICT) in the stoiage, collation anu ietiieval of uata
anu in exchanging infoimation with stakeholueis.
Almost all offices have access to some ICT
iesouices except foi the 0mbuusmen uealing with
Piotection against Baiassment of Women at
Woikplace, the Piovincial 0mbuusmen foi
Balochistan anu KPK anu theA}&K 0mbuusman.
I nf oimat i on anu communi cat i ons
technology is geneially consiueieu to be a 'foice
multipliei' in iaising efficiency levels. Bowevei,
most offices continue to be boggeu uown in
papeiwoik with bulging files seen as the hallmaik
of a busy office. The use of ICT is confineu to PC's
useu to "type out" uecisions anu obtain a piint-out
on the attacheu uot matiix oi lasei piintei.
Inteinet access is iestiicteu to ieceive anu senu
emails. Inteinal Net Woiking within the office is
the exception iathei than the iule. Local Aiea
Netwoiking (LAN) anu Wiue Aiea Net Woiking
(WAN) is unknown. Some 0mbuusmen offices like
the Feueial Tax 0mbuusman 0ffice, the Banking
v) lnjormoton & Communcoton
Techno!ogg os 'Force Mu!tp!er.
be implementeu piomptly anu the giievance
ieuiesseu in tiue lettei anu spiiit as in most cases
that is the only way justice can be uone since the
complainant's usually lack the iesouices to
unueitake extenueu, costly litigation befoie
foimal juuicial foia. The ueveloping countiy
0mbuusman is not at pai with his counteipait in
the auvanceu westein juiisuiction anu is in neeu of
statutoiy suppoit fiom legislation such as F0IRA
i n oiuei t o ef f ect i vel y i mpl ement hi s
iecommenuations.
In Pakistan the supeiioi juuiciaiy has in
geneial suppoiteu the 0mbuusman office. Theie is
no uiiect iecouise to the juuiciaiy against the
0mbuusman's iecommenuations as these aie
contesteu eithei befoie the 0mbuusman himself
thiough a ieview application oi befoie the
Piesiuent oi the piovincial uoveinoi when
iepiesent at i ons aie f i l eu agai nst t he
iecommenuations maue by the Feueial anu
Piovincial 0mbuusmen, iespectively. The uecision
by the Piesiuent oi uoveinoi, as the case may be, is
thus final anu biings closuie to the pioceeuings.
0ccasionally howevei, matteis aiising fiom the
0mbuusman's iecommenuations uo go befoie the
supeiioi juuiciaiy, the Bigh Couits anu the
Supieme Couit. 0sually, the issues ielate to the
0mbuusman's juiisuiction anu the Couits have
helu that the 0mbuusman exeicises quasi-juuicial
authoiity anu has seveial attiibutes of a Couit in
seveial aspects of its poweis,(1989-PLB-48S-
SC.Pak) anu exeicises 'concuiient juiisuiction'
(that is, along with othei appellate authoiities)
"without iestiaint" in all matteis involving
'malauministiation' (WP No.11S4S of 2u12 LBC).
Bowevei, the sine quo non foi the 0mbuusman's
inteivention is the piesence of 'malauministiat-
ion' as uefineu in the statute. The Couit's have also
39
uigitizeu iecoiu keeping must be the noim in all
offices. Fiomthe time a complaint is iegisteieu till
its uisposal eveiy uocument ielevant to the
complaint unuei piocess must be scanneu anu
stoieu in a cential uata base system foi easy
ietiieval whenevei it was iequiieu. Computeiizeu
complaint management systems shoulu be useu to
tiack piogiess in complaint piocessing anu
ueteimine status with online access available foi a
complainant to asceitain status. The piactice of
iout i nel y ui c t at i ng uiaf t oiuei s anu
coiiesponuence to a stenogiaphei must be
uispenseu with. Skilleu stenogiapheis able to take
uictation pioficiently aie uifficult to hiie anu the
typists that aie geneially in use waste a lot of time
as they iequiie wiitten assignments in long hanu.
Besiues, confiuentiality may becompiomiseu once
uictation is given. 0fficials hiieu to ueal with
complaints must be computei pioficient, not just
liteiate, anu be able to use a laptoptablet
inuepenuently anu must unueistanu the
complaint management anu uata base systems in
use in the office. Softwaie to conveit speech to text
efficiently is also available commeicially anu is
affoiuable anu its use shoulu be encouiageu.
Similaily, optical chaiactei iecognition softwaieto
conveit scanneu images of piinteu mateiial to
euitable text is also available anu may be useu
wheie necessaiy. Fiesh puichase of ueskbounu
PC's shoulu be stoppeu. Inteinal netwoiking
shoulu be auopteu in all offices. A bulletin boaiu
may be useu to post notices foi fixation of cases foi
heaiing anu simultaneously intimation sent
thiough electionic messaging anu fax as well.
Wheie possible inexpensive SKYPE viueolinks can
be useu to inteiact with complainant's anu
iesponuents anu they may not be summoneu
ioutinely foi face to face meetings with
0mbuusman officials. Not much extia haiuwaie
Nohtasib anu the Wafaqi Nohtasib (Feueial
0mbuusman) have uevelopeu basic systems to
piocess uata peitaining to the management of
complaints anu to enable complainant's to file
complaints 0nline. Bowevei, none of the offices
have been able to conveit to full electionic
uigitizeu iecoiu keeping. Real time piocessing of
uata is unknown as is the use of 0ptical Chaiactei
Recognition (0CR) anu Speech to Text conveision
in office woik. Bata Base Nanagement is
iuuimentaiy. Access to specializeu iefeience
softwaie peitaining to uecisions of the Piesiuent
anu othei ielevant appellate foia is iestiicteu to
only one iegional office of the Feueial Tax
0mbuusman at Lahoie. viueo Confeiencing is
unknown. The use of SKYPE as an inexpensive anu
simple auuio-viueo communication meuium is
piactically non- existent.
Both officeis anu staff of all 0mbuusmen
offices geneially lack pioficiency in hanuling ICT
systems. The enu iesult is that the auvantages that
follow the systematic use of ICT in an integiateu
mannei aie soiely lacking. 0n the positive siue
howevei, at least 0mbuusman officials aie talking
about the gieat potential of ICT as a foice
multipliei anu in some of the offices one see's ICT
being put to use albeit in less than an iueal
aiiangement. Amongst all the 0mbuusman offices
theWafaqi Nohtasib, Feueial Tax0mbuusman anu
the Banking 0mbuusman aie best placeu in teims
of ICT use. All thiee offices use computeiizeu
complaint management systems incluuing web
baseu facility foi online filing of complaints anu
aie able to tiack the status of a complaint once it is
iegisteieu. Coiiesponuence between the vaiious
offices anu the Beau 0ffice thiough email is also in
vogue. Bowevei theie is ioom foi consiueiable
impiovement at veiy little extia cost. Fully
40
that uestination might piovetobe.
This uemanu foi technological innovation
is, I woulu suggest, oneaspect of abioauei uemanu
foi uemonstiable piofessionalism, foi objective
assuiances that 0mbuusmen anu theii staff have
the cieuentials not just to uo the job piopeily but
to be at the cutting euge of uevelopments in the
fielu, to maintain cieuibility anu commanu
iespect.
Wbot is cleor is tbot 0mbuJsmen connot
offorJ to qive up on tbe cbollenqe of stoyinq
obeoJ of tbe qome, even wben it is not
olwoys entirelycleor wbot qomeit is tbot we
ore qoinq to bove to ploy next." ["I0T0RF
CEAllFN6FS I0R TEF 0HB00SHAN" -
ANN ABRAEAH, 0K PARllAHFNTARY
0HB00SHAN].
n oiuei to ensuie optimum iesults it is
essential that peisonnel employeu in the
I0mbuusman office be piopeily tiaineu to
manage the office, hanule office equipment
incluuing ICT equipment anu paiapheinalia anu
conuuct investigations efficiently.
The fiist step ought to be the conuuct of a
Tiaining Neeus Assessment. Baseu on the iesults
of the assessment, piofessionally uesigneu
Tiaining Nouules may be got piepaieu anu the
seivices of a Tiainei hiieu. A ciash tiaining
piogiamshoulu then be implementeu at the enu of
which each paiticipant must be giaueu anu those
unabletobenefit fiomthetiainingiegime, weeueu
out.
v) Tronng oj Ombudsmon 5tojj
ond Advsors.
softwaie ( basically, scanneis, seiveis, laptops anu
speech to text anu 0CR softwaie) woulu be
iequiieu to biing about these funuamental
changes in office anu complaint management anu
the uiviuenus that woulu followin teims of vastly
impioveu efficiency once the systems aie up anu
iunning will moie than compensate foi the
auuitional cost involveu. It woulu no longei be
necessaiy to senu bulky papei files thiough
couiiei fiom iegional office to Beau 0ffice
ioutinely whenevei a uiaft oiuei is put up by the
conceineu auvisei. Electionic tiansmission of
uiaft oiuei alone thiough email shoulu be enough
in most cases as the suppoiting uocumentation
woulu be accesseu fiom the cential uata base at
the Beau 0ffice. A tiue 'papei less' office woulu be
a iealistic possibility. Noie than anything else,
executive will is iequiieu to biing about these
changes. Although we aie in the 21st centuiy anu
uigital communications anu the electionic
highway (Inteinet) aie in eveiyuay use by an evei
incieasing segment of the population many
officials, especially in the public sectoi aie still
loathe to put technology to use in theii uay to uay
woik. Noie than anything else this is a minuset
issueas theskills iequiieu toput this technology to
use aie basic anu well within ieach of a univeisity
giauuate which woulu be the minimum
qualification of someone woiking in the
0mbuusman's office. As succinctly put by one
knowleugeablecommentatoi:
"The challenge is not just technociatic, a
mattei simply of having the iight 'kit.' It is also
about the having the flexibility to uo things
uiffeiently, of keeping in minu the funuamental
puipose of the 0mbuusman function, anu of
having the couiage to go wheie technological
change takes us, howevei unknowable in auvance
41
speak of theii utility to the public at laige. It is
unfoitunate that even aftei uecaues of ieuiessing
public giievances the public shoulu be so ignoiant
of the 0mbuusman. Bowevei, that is a haiu ieality
touay anu one that shoulu be iecognizeu anu
counteieu eneigetically anu expeuitiously.
Foitunately, the Piess, compiising both Piint anu
Electionic meuia can, if mobilizeu effectively, go a
longway in auuiessingthis pioblem.
The 0mbuusman cannot be effective if he is
not shown to be piouucing iesults. It is theiefoie
impeiative that a phaseu, well planneu campaign
be launcheu by all 0mbuusmen foi which the
iequiieu funus must be maue available on an
emeigent basis by the Feueial uoveinment as well
as theiespectivepiovincial goveinments.
ne of the unhappy things that came to
light uuiing the Woikshop uelibeiations
0was that both the Feueial uoveinment as
well as piovincial goveinments uo not hesitate to
cuib the juiisuiction of the 0mbuusman if they
peiceive the 0mbuusman to be hostile to theii
inteiests oi if they simply woulu like to have an
0mbuusman moie to theii liking. The KPK,
Balochistan anu A}&K 0mbuusmen voiceu theii
seiious conceins in this iegaiu uuiing the
piesentations maue by them anu they minceu no
woius in aiticulating theii thoughts. The Foiumof
Pakistan 0mbuusman can take suitable initiatives
in this iegaiu, fiistly, by encouiaging all
0mbuusmen to join the Foium anu then by
builuing consensus foi auoption of the Feueial
x) Po!tco! lnterjerence bg
Covernment.
In the case of Auvisois Consultants who
conuuct all investigations anu piepaie uiaft
iecommenuations oiueis iepoits foi the
0mbuusman the emphasis ought to be on an
effective wiiting style, supeiioi ICT skills anu
sounu investigative techniques. In theii case as
well, a Tiaining Neeus Assessment has to be the
staiting point. Baseu on that, Auvisois anu
Consul tants may be nomi nateu by the
0mbuusman foi paiticipation in tiaining couises
at homeanu abioau. Theii paiticipation in tiaining
couises, such as the veiy highly iegaiueu Tiaining
Woikshop in auvanceu investigative techniques
known as "Shaipening Youi Teeth," - a biainchilu
of Anuie Naiin, 0mbuusman, 0ntaiio, Canaua-
shoulu beconsiueieu.
Tiaining in effective iepoit wiiting, ITC anu
ieseaichmethous is alsoiequiieu foi investigation
officeis.
At the piesent time twelve inuepenuent
Feueial anu Piovincial 0mbuusman offices aie
opeiational in Pakistan. It may be feasible to set up
a cential tiaining institute foi all 0mbuusman
offices in which staff anu officeis ieceive
specializeu tiaining in the aieas of paiticulai
inteiest tothem.
t is unfoitunate that although the office of the
Feueial 0mbuusman - Wafaqi Nohtasib - (the
ISweuish vaiiant), was intiouuceu in Pakistan
in 198Sfolloweu by twomoiein 1992, yet veiy few
people aie even awaie of theii existence what to
v) Projecton oj the Ombudsmon
through the Prnt ond
E!ectronc Medo.
42
being taken to empowei women anu cieateu a
fuioi of soits in the piint anu electionic meuia anu
impoitantly, also fileu petitions befoie the
supeiioi couits toueclaiethe pioposeu legislation
as unconstitutional as Pakistan was an iueological
Islamic State wheie the Quian anu Shaiia weie
supiemeanu nolegislation coulu bemauethat was
seen as contiaiy to these souices of Islamic
juiispiuuence. While the couits uiu not enuoise
theviews espouseu by suchpiessuiegioups, many
uetecteu an unueicuiient of sympathy foi theii so
calleu, Islamic stance in the mattei. Theie is a
peiception that because of such sympathy, the
final legislation that was appioveu foi cieation of a
sepaiate 0mbuusman foi Piotection against
Baiassment of Women at Woikplace maue it cleai
that the office woulu catei to woikplace
haiassment faceu by women as well as men. While
theie is no uenying that both men anu women
inueeu face haiassment at the woikplace fiom
oveibeaiing employeis as well as theii fellow
woikeis, theie seems to be little point to incluue
men in the juiisuiction of an '0mbuuspeison'
office being set up to catei specifically to
piotecting the iights of women as a vulneiable
membei of oui society. Theie is no uenying that
this "concession" was maue to panuei to the
ieactionaiy views iegaiuing the iole to be playeu
by women in a mouein State helu by a significant
segment of oui society.
It was suggesteu in the Woikshop that one
ieason why the piessuie gioups succeeu in having
theii way is the lack of an effective auvocacy foi
women iights befoie juuicial foia anu it was
suggesteu that a panel of high piofile lawyeis may
be set up to pleau theii cases effectively. Anothei
suggestion was that as appointing a panel of high
0mbuusmen Institutional Refoims Act 2u1S by all
Piovincial 0mbuusmen. Finally, the FP0 may seek
iecouisetothe}uuiciaiy tomount alegal challenge
toencioachment of the0mbuusman's juiisuiction.
All this, of couise, will not be easy especially, as the
KPK, Balochistan anu A}&K goveinments having
uivesteu theii 0mbuusmen of the statutoiy
authoiity to enfoice theii wiit, will be loathe to
acquiescetotheFoium's biuuing.
he ioau to women-empoweiment in
Pakistan has been paveu with uifficulties.
TThe high level of illiteiacy coupleu with
poveity anu most impoitantly, a highly
conseivative minuset ueeply iooteu in cultuie anu
tiauition has maue it uifficult foi women's iights
gioups to lobby foi change anu empowei the
woman in Pakistan thiough effective legislation.
This haish ieality stiuck home when an
0mbuusman office was sought to be cieateu to
countei the scouige of haiassment of women at
woikplace. Nany in Pakistan sawthis as an affiont
to tiauitional Islamic values iegaiuing the iole of
women in society. In the opinion of these
conseivative gioups Islam uiu not appiove of
women's unfetteieu paiticipation in the geneial
woikfoice on the same plane as men anu the veiy
iuea of secuiing theii 'iights' in this context
thiough legislation anu fuithei by cieating an
0mbuusman's office to countei woikplace
haiassment that they saiu they faceu was
anathema. Nany of these anti' women iights
piessuie gioups wanteu to unuo the measuies
x) Judco! Actvsm ond workp!oce
horossment oj women.
43
naiiowtax base anu an abysmal 'tax to uBP iatio.'
The fewthat uo pay tax, pay only a fiaction of what
tax is actually uue fiom them, anu it is heie that
weie biibeiy becomes a ieality. Biibes aie also
paiu when taxpayeis ask foi payment of iefunus of
tax uue to them. Inciuentally, complaints of non-
payment of iefunus aie the laigest single categoiy
of complaints' fileu in the FT0 office. Complaint's
peitaining to iefunus amount to 7u-7S% of the
total complaints ieceiveu in the FT0 office yeaily
anu in the gieat majoiity ( 9S% +) the complaint is
f ounu t o be coiiect anu a f i nui ng of
'malauministiation' is iecoiueu against the uept'l
officials helu iesponsible foi uelibeiately uelaying
issuanceof theclaimeu iefunu.
It is veiy significant that the above 'pattein'
of complaints ieceiveu has iemaineu almost
constant since the last thiiteen ouu yeais that the
office of the 0mbuusman has been in existence.
The FT0 has pioviueu many 'leaus' to the FBR to
investigate cases involving possible coiiuption
anu it is in FBR's inteiest totake up investigation of
these cases aggiessively. Bowevei, the iesponse
fiomFBRhas been muchless than enthusiastic.
Coiiuption is an extiemely complex
pioblemanu it is impeiative that it be tackleu on a
high piioiity basis. The FT0 has only toucheu the
'tip of an icebeig' but he has shown his willingness
to tackle the issue heau-on anu has pioviueu foou
foi much thought to the FBR in seival finuings of
'malauministiation' iecoiueu in cases involving
iefunus in which biibes aie suspecteu to be at the
ioot of thepioblem.
piofile lawyeis foi launching anu fighting
litigation involving women iights cases might be
seen as auopting a 'confiontationist postuie,' it
woulu piobably be moie feasible anu effective in
the long iun to lobby foi women iights on a moie
subtle plane, incluuing thiough inteiaction of a
panel of 0mbuusmen, incluuing even the
Piesiuent, Foium of Pakistan 0mbuusman, with
membeis of thejuuiciaiy.
heie is no uenying that one of the majoi
issues befoie the Feueial Tax 0mbuusman
T(FT0) is how to tackle the pioblem of
financial coiiuption (biibeiy) amongst Feueial
Boaiu of Revenue(FBR) functionaiies. Bowevei, it
is also extiaoiuinaiy that, Since 2uuu when the
office of the FT0 was cieateu, veiy fewcomplaints
involving outiight allegations of biibeiy have been
fileu anu in only one such complaint has the FT0
founu the complainee, an FBR fielu officei, to be
guilty of soliciting biibes anu has iecommenueu
action against him. Be has also iefeiieu his case to
the National Accountability Buieaufoi its ciiminal
piosecution.
The main ieason why coiiuption is so haiu
to iuentify is that in the gieat majoiity of cases in
which biibes aie uemanueu by coiiupt officials,
they aie willingly paiu by taxpayeis eagei to avoiu
"uuetaxation" of theii income. It is noseciet that in
Pakistan veiy fewpeople aie actually boine on the
tax iolls. This is eviuent fiom the extiemely
x) The scourge oj corrupton.
44
Pictorial Climpses of
A Two-day worhsbop on "Cballenges of Umbudsmansbip"
Cbapter IV
45
4
9. The FP0 may holu such woikshops eveiy
quaitei foi the fiist yeai beginning with this
woikshop anu biannually theieaftei.
1u. 0ne-Line buuget to be auopteu foi all 0mbuus-
man offices
11. Buugetaiy constiaints with special iefeience
to the neeus of the Piovincial 0mbuusmen of
Balochistan, Khybei Pakhtunkhawa anu those
of Feueial anu Piovincial (Punjab) 0mbuus-
man foi Piotection against Baiassment of
Women at the Woikplace anu also, A}&K
0mbuusman, tobeauuiesseu.
12. Special neeus of vulneiable membeis of
society such as chiluien be auuiesseu by the
Feuei al anu i es pec t i ve Pi ovi nc i al
0mbuusman.
1S. Buman Rights issues especially as iegaius
Baiassment of Women at Woikplace be
tackleu effectively in all piovinces. Buuget,
Staff anu office iequiiements to be met on
piioiity basis.
14. Woikplace haiassment be appieciateu in its
tiue, genuei neutial spiiit anu all woikeis be
encouiageu to come foith with theii
giievances.
1S. The Feueial 0mbuusmen Institutional
Refoims Act, 2u1S to be suitably auapteu anu
auopteu by the Piovincial 0mbuusmen set-up
anu the Piovincial Legislatuies be appioacheu
in this iegaiu foi enacting appiopiiate
legislation.
16. A conceiteu effoit to be maue to pioject the
0mbuusman thiough the piint anu electionic
meuiatoincieasepublic awaieness.
17. In oiuei to facilitate outieach, 0mbuusmen to
have a piesence in eveiy uistiict. If a iegional
kecommendotons.
1. Infoimation anu Communication Technology
(ICT) tobeuseu in aplanneu mannei as a"foice
multipliei" to enhance peifoimance anu
piouuctivity of all 0mbuusman offices.
2. A suivey of the ICT capabilities of eveiy
0mbuusman office be conuucteu by piofessio-
nals, anu Neeus Assessments of each office be
uoneon scientific lines.
S. Atiue, papeiless office be establisheu by eveiy
0mbuusman baseu on uigitizeu, electionic,
iecoiu-keeping anu electionic stoiage, access
anu collation of uata.
4. Tiaining Neeus Assessments of each
0mbuusman office be uone anu steps be taken
toimpait tiainingtothesuppoitingstaff anu to
ensuie that all staff membeis aie ICT
pioficient.
S. A couifieu uigitizeu uatabase of malauminis-
tiation cases to be maintaineu by all 0mbuus-
men anu passwoiu piotecteu public access be
alloweu, aftei iegistiation.
6. }uiisuiction issues peitinent to inuiviuual
0mbuusman be auuiesseu viz Wafaqi
Nohtasib's juiisuiction issue ovei militaiy
cantonments.
7. }uiisuictional anomalies between 0mbuu-
smen to be iesolveu thiough bilateial
negotiation viz Wafaqi Nohtasib vis a vis
Insuiance anu Banking 0mbuusmen. If
negotiation fails, mattei may be iefeiieu to the
FP0 foi iesolution.
8. The FP0 may holu woikshops anu confeiences
in the piovincial heauquaiteis on a iegulai
basis.
47
office cannot be establisheu uue to the lack of
auequate iesouices, a smallei sub-office be set
up.
18. A Common Public Seivice Nessage foi Piime
Time telecasting to be uesigneu by the FP0 foi
all 0mbuusmen, to be maue compulsoiy foi all
Tv anu Rauio channels, incluuing the piint
meuia.
19. Special attention to be paiu to significantly
ieuuce the time taken to uispose of complaints
anu to stay well within the statutoiy time
fiame.
2u. Bepaitments 0iganizations unuei the
juiisuiction of the 0mbuusman to be iequiieu
to uisplay flexi-banneis on theii websites anu
also in theii offices explaining how the public
can obtain ieuiessal of theii giievances fiom
the0mbuusman.
21. The FP0 to uesign (i) a common 0iganogiam
foi 0mbuusman offices; (ii) a common lean
anu flat auministiative set up (iii) 0nifoim
Seivice Rules (iv) 0nifoim Salaiy Stiuctuie
anu (v) exploie possibility of locating all
0mbuusman offices in onebuiluingat Regional
0ffices to unueitake 0ne Builuing 0peiation of
0mbuusman foi ieuiessal of citizens
giievances.
22. 0mbuusman offices to enhance focus on
uiagnosing anu ieuiessing systemic issues to
pieempt iepetition of similai giievances.
2S. Implementation tobebiought unuei incieaseu
focus in teims of the Piesiuent's uiiective, the
Piime Ninistei's oiueis anu a juugment of the
SupiemeCouit of Pakistan in this iegaiu.
24. }uuicial Allowance to be alloweu to the
0mbuusman anu thesuppoiting staff.
2S. A "self accountability mechanism" to be
auopteu by all 0mbuusmen.
26. uoveinment to uesist fiom uivesting the
0mbuusman of statutoiy authoiity gianteu to
themby theii Chaitei.
Tbe woods are lovely, darh and deep,
But I bave promises to heep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
48
Pictorial Climpses of
A Two-day worhsbop on "Cballenges of Umbudsmansbip"
Annexures
Case Law
49
50
SUPREME CUURT UF PAKISTAN
Bafiz Nuhammau Aiif Bai v. IT0
N0: CP 788YEAR: 1984 BECIBEB 0N
u7111988
CITATI0N: 6uTAXS2 ; 1989PTB48S ;
199uPTCL7SS
Constitution of Pahistan, 1973 -- Section 5 --
Article 199 --
Wiit juiisuiction -- Alteinate iemeuy -- Relief --
Assessee fileu appeal befoie A.A.C. against the
oiuei of auuitional assessment maue by the
Income Tax 0fficei -- Buiing appeal assessee fileu
wiit petition which was uismisseu as the
petitionei hau alieauy availeu alteinate auequate
iemeuy -- Relief iefuseu by the Bigh Couit --
Whethei accoiuing to technicalities of pioceuuial
natuie-- Belu yes --
Constitutional juiisuiction of BighCouit -- uiant of
ielief -- Alteinate auequate iemeuy -- Wheie a
iemeuy by way of appeal was available, no ielief
coulu be gianteu to the petitionei unuei aiticle
199 -- If petitionei was not alloweu any ielief by
the uepaitmental authoiities (uespite the
obseivations by the Supieme Couit), it woulu not
mean that the petitionei woulu have no
i mmeui at e iemeuy at al l agai nst t he
highhanueuness of the uepaitment -- Petitionei
coulu, among othei ieliefs, file a complaint anu
giievance application befoie the Feueial
0mbuusman, who coulu also pioviue effective
ieuiess, anu pioviue the alteinate effective anu
auequateiemeuy tothepetitionei in suchcases -
{IN THE SUPREME CUURT UF PAKISTAN}
HAFIZ MUHAMMAD ARIF DAR
v.
INCUME TAX UFFICER
Piesent : N0BANNAB AFZAL Z0LLAB anu
}AvAIB IQBAL, }}.
Civil Petition No. 788 of 1984, ueciueu on 7-11-
1988.
(0n appeal fiomthe juugment anu oiuei of the
Lahoie Bigh Couit, Lahoie passeu in Wiit
Petition No. 2S82 of 1984, uateu Su-S-1984).
Syeu Fayyaz Bussain Qauii, Auvocate (absent)
anu S. Abiu Nawaz, Auvocate-on-Recoiu, foi the
Petitionei.
Nemo foi Responuent.
Bate of heaiing : 7-11-1988.
URDER
{0iuei of the Couit was passeu by N0BANNAB
AFZAL Z0LLAB, }.}.
---Wiit Petition against an Income-tax Assessment
by Income Tax 0fficei was uismisseu by the Bigh
Couit by thefollowingshoit oiuei:
``The petitionei is aggiieveu with the oiuei of
auuitional assessment maue in puisuance of the
piovisions of Section 6S of the Income Tax
0iuinanceby an IncomeTax0fficei. Behas alieauy
fileu an appeal befoie the Appellate Assistant
Commissionei. As he hau alieauy availeu of the
alteinate iemeuy this wiit petition is uismisseu in
limine.''
Leave to appeal having been sought, this Couit
passeu inteiimoiueis on 2Siu }uly, 1984, 29th}uly,
1984, 9th August, 1984, 12th August , 1984, 16th
August, 1984, 21st August, 1984, 28th August,
1984anu 29thAugust, 1984.
They aie veiy instiuctive in so fai as the attituue of
iesponuent uepaitment is conceineu.
51
ielevant Inspectoi who hau submitteu the iepoit
on whichaction was taken against thepetitionei.
No action shall be taken against the petitionei in
the meanwhile. Ni. N.Z. Khalil, Auvocate is
uiiecteu to auvise the iesponuent of the
pioceeuings befoiethis Couit.
12-8-1984 : No one has tuineu foi the iesponuent.
Aujouineu tothe16thof this month.
16-8-1984 : The mattei was aujouineu to be taken
up at 1-Su p.m. Leaineu counsel foi the petitionei
is piesent alongwith the petitionei. Leaineu
counsel foi the iesponuent is, howevei, absent.
Thecaseis, theiefoie, aujouineu to21-8-1984.
21-8-1984: An official of theCantonment Boaiu be
oiueieu to biing the latest PTI Foimpeitaining to
piopeity No.S26-Saiwai Roau Sauai, Lahoie, on
the next uate of heaiing, in oiuei to enable this
Couit toasceitain theannual ient at whichthesaiu
piopeity is assesseu.
Tocomeup on 28-8-1984.
28-8-1984 : Aujouineu to tomoiiow (29-8-1984)
to enable the Inspectoi of the Cantonment Boaiu
to explain how the value of the place in question
was calculateu to be Rs. 1,Su,uuu when the
monthly ient of thehousewas Rs. 1uupei month.
29-8-1984: 0n instiuctions fiom the I.T.0. the
leaineu counsel foi the iesponuent submitteu that
the tax hau been levieu accoiuing to the value of
the piopeity as calculateu by the Cantonment
Boaiu. Bowevei, I finu that the piopeity in
question is assesseu by The Cantonment Boaiu at
Rs. 1uu pei month anu as such the value of Rs.
1,Su,uuu as ueteimineu appeais to be excessive
anu aibitiaiy. It woulu have been appiopiiate if,
foi fixing the vaue of the piopeity, the Cantonment
Boaiu hau followeu the foimula of ``1uyeais ient'',
They aie, theiefoie, iepiouuceu below:--
``2S-7-1984 : Notice to the A.u. foi the 29th of this
month 29-7-1984: Aujouineu to the Sth of August,
1984, to enable the petitionei to piouuce the
peison fiom whom he hau puichaseu the shop
whichhas been maue the basis of enhancement of
the assessment. 9-8-1984 : Bafiz Nuhammau Aiif
Bai petitionei has been assesseu toRs. 1,9S,uuuas
his income on the giounu that he hau enough
money to puichase a shop on the Saiwai Roau in
Lahoie Cantt. anu on investigation the ielevant
Income-tax Inspectoi founu that the venuois weie
fictitious peisons anu that this hau been uone to
avoiu levy of income-tax. I iequiieu the petitionei
to piouuce the venuois namely Nuhammau
Ashfaq son of Baji Saiuai Nuhammau anu
Nuhammau Nushtaq son of Ibiahim, so as to
asceitain whethei the finuing of the Income-tax
Inspectoi that the venuois weiefictitious, was
coiiect.
The petitionei has piouuceu boththe above-noteu
venuois whose iuentity has been veiifieu thiough
theii Iuentity Caius whichbeai theii photogiaphs.
Piima facie, it appeais that the iepoit of the
Income-taxInspectoi, is wholly incoiiect.
Ni. N.Z. Khalil, Auvocate, appeaieu on behalf of Ni.
Nuhammau Ilyas, Stanuing Counsel foi the
Income-tax Bepaitment to submit that he (Ni.
Ilyas) has left foi 0.S.A. anu the case may theiefoie
be aujouineu to a uate aftei the vacations.
Petitioneis counsel, howevei, submits that in view
of the fact that the allegation against the petitionei
has been piima facie pioveu to be incoiiect, the
casemay not beaujouineu.
Let notice be issueu to iesponuent foi the 12th of
this month, who may appeai thiough a counsel
engageu by the Bepaitment alongwith the
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as uoneby theWealthTaxBept.
In this view of the mattei the iecoveiy of the tax
amount is stayeu till the uecision of the main
petition.''
It is possible that in view of the afoiequoteu
obseivations ieuiess might have alieauy been
pioviueu tothepetitionei.
0ne of the conuitions foi giant of ielief in wiit
juiisuiction of the Bigh Couit is that the petitionei
befoie it shoulu not have any alteinative auequate
iemeuy. In this case, a iemeuy by way of appeal, as
mentioneu in the impugneu oiuei, was such
iemeuy. Theiefoie, it is coiiect that no ielief coulu
be gianteu to the petitionei unuei Aiticle 199 of
theConstitution.
But that uoes not mean that, in case the petitionei
has not been alloweu any ielief by the
uepait ment al aut hoii t i es (uespi t e t he
obseivations by the Supieme Couit) the petitionei
woulu have noimmeuiate iemeuy at all against the
highhanueunessof theuepaitment.
Amongst otheis he can file a complaint anu
giievance application befoie the Feueial
0mbuusman, who can pioviue effective ieuiess, in
a case like the piesent one. That foiumhas seveial
attiibutes of a Couit in many aspects of its poweis.
It an also move in a mattei piomptly whenevei so
neeueu. At the same time it uoes not suffei fiom
some of the hanuicaps, uue to the technicalities of
pioceuuial natuie, which opeiate as impeuiments
oi thwait such like action by the Couits. Foi
example the limitation of non-availability of an
alteinate iemeuy in this case foi the Bigh Couit
unuei Ait, 199 of the Constitution, is not
applicable to the saiu foium. Besiues, the same
being quasi-juuicial it is also heaueu by a }uuge of
the Supieme Couit; with similai poweis to punish
foi contempt. In this context theiefoie, it can be
safely concluueu, that it can pioviue the alteinate
effective anu auequate iemeuy to the petitionei
also.
With the foiegoing obseivations anu iemaiks,
leave to appeal is iefuseu in the ciicumstances of
this case, uue to the technical huiule faceu by the
petitionei in the Bigh Couit. Be may file a
complaint befoiethe0mbuusman.
Leaveiefuseu.
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