Karachi:
The Sindh (SHC) Superior Court suspended on Friday the decision of the provincial people who had ordered the elimination of the K-Electric Executive Director, Moonis Alvi, about the accusations of harassment in the workplace.
The provisional relief occurred during a hearing before a two -members bank headed by Judge Faisal Kamal Alam and comprising Judge Hassan Akbar. The court heard a petition presented by Alvi, challenging the verdict of the people issued one day before.
Barrimer Abid Zuberi, lawyer of the petitioner, said that the provincial people lacked jurisdiction in the matter, arguing that KE is an interprovincial entity and, therefore, falls under the scope of federal legislation.
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The court asked about legal defects in the ruling of the people. Zuberi argued that the order to eliminate Alvi and impose a fine of RS2.5 million was issued without jurisdiction and in contravention of the relevant laws.
“The Office of the People is not authorized to judge such matters. In similar cases, the jurisdiction has encountered the National Commission of Industrial Relations (NIRC) or the Labor Courts,” he argued.
In addition, he pointed out that KE supplies electricity to areas beyond Sindh, including Lasbela and Hub, which classifies it as an interprovincial company. Therefore, the case must be treated by the federal people.
The court, after listening to the arguments, suspended the elimination order until the next hearing, scheduled for August 8. He ordered Alvi to deposit the fine of RS2.5 million with the Nazir of the SHC. The bank rejected a request from the petitioner’s lawyer to reduce the amount.
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Mahreen Aziz Khan, a former KE consultant and the company’s first CXO woman, had filed a complaint under the protection against women’s harassment in the Labor Place Law, 2010, accusing the CEO Moonis Alvi of harassment and creating a hostile work environment.
In his verdict, the judge of the Ombudsman of Sindh (retd) Shahnawaz Tariq declared that Alvi had committed harassment, created a hostile atmosphere and caused mental agony in the workplace to the plaintiff and his team.
The Ombudsman had ordered the elimination of Alvi from the service under section 4 (ii) (d) of the law and ordered him to pay a fine of RS2.5 million in a month.
