Bank ordered to provide paid leave to employees and align policies with Maternity and Paternity Leave Act 2023
State Bank of Pakistan. Photo: Archive
ISLAMABAD:
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has been fined Rs 500,000 for illegally denying paternity leave to an employee following a decision by Federal Ombudsman for Protection from Harassment, Fouzia Waqar. The case was filed by Syed Basit Ali, an officer serving as OG-1 in the SBP Banking Services Corporation (BSC).
Following the birth of his son on April 4, 2025, he requested a 30-day paternity leave on April 10. Her application was rejected because “there was no such leave as per the existing SBP policy”, although maternity leave is granted to female employees under the Maternity and Paternity Leave Act, 2023.
Ali argued that SBP BSC is under the administrative control of the federal government and therefore the law applies. It added that the SBP and SBP BSC “cannot selectively adopt provisions of the law, granting maternity leave and denying paternity leave under the same statute.”
The SBP lawyer responded that the bank, as an autonomous entity, is not bound by law and paternity leave had not been incorporated into its service rules. The arguments largely focused on questions of jurisdiction. The plaintiff’s attorney presented evidence, including job advertisements and bidding documents, to demonstrate that SBP BSC complies with federal regulations.
In his ruling, Waqar stated: “The denial of paternity leave to the plaintiff, to which he is legally entitled as a father, while allowing maternity leave to female employees, constitutes clear gender discrimination.”
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The judgment imposed a fine of Rs 500,000 on SBP and ordered that Rs 400,000 be paid to the plaintiff within 30 days, while the remaining Rs 100,000 would be deposited in the national treasury. The SBP was also ordered to grant Basit Ali 30 days paid paternity leave and update its leave policies to fully align with the Maternity and Paternity Leave Act, 2023.
Waqar further said, “Refusal to grant paternity leave amounts to gender-based harassment. Providing maternity leave and denying paternity leave constitutes gender discrimination. Caring for children is not the sole responsibility of women, and refusal to grant paternity leave undermines the shared responsibility of parents and the best interests of the child.”
The ruling further emphasized that statutory rights cannot be overridden by domestic policies and that federal institutions, including autonomous bodies, are subject to constitutional guarantees and welfare legislation.
“The order categorically rejected the long-standing claim of institutional autonomy used to deny legal rights. The State Bank of Pakistan is owned, controlled and supervised by the Federal Government, and SBP Banking Services Corporation, as its wholly-owned subsidiary, cannot escape the application of federal welfare legislation,” the Ombudsman added.
