Daily Times

A national newspaper reported that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), after following “due process” through a “two-member” inquiry committee to “investigate” allegations of sexual harassment levelled by five female members of the Multan Cricket Club (MCC) against the management, has banned them from playing “any form of cricket for six months”, and they will be kept on a year’s probation thereafter. It was further elaborated that three players denied having made any allegations while two failed to appear before the inquiry committee.

Looks like justice has been served: lock, stock and barrel. But then why is there a nagging feeling at the back of my mind, enough to prompt me to sift through the available information? So, without prejudice, I present to you what I discovered.

In the first week of June this year, a popular news channel in a show named Takraar, hosted by anchor Imran Khan, invited four female players, Halima Rafiq, Hina Ghafoor, Seema Javed and Kiran Khan, of the MCC, to talk about a sensitive issue: sexual harassment. The anchor in his opening note stated that given the nature of the issue, no one is willing to come forward and speak openly about it on the media as they are afraid, but finally girls have consented to step forward and highlight the plight facing the female players of the MCC. The allegations were against the coach, Javed Iqbal, and Maulvi Sultan Alam, Chairman MCC. The girls detailed the incidents that had allegedly taken place, which included insinuations, touching, indecent proposals, text messages, eyewitness accounts and other narrations. They specifically alleged that the coach was slapped by his wife in the field during practice when she found out about his ongoing affair. The anchor was in possession of documents furnished by the MCC: copy of an FIR, apology letters/applications, etc. The defence given by the MCC was that Seema Javed was involved in the kidnapping of a girl, and apology letters had been written by two of the players for various violations, hence they were being accused of sexual harassment in retaliation. The anchor invited Shahadat Hussain, an investigative reporter for the channel, to come on air and share his findings. The reporter stated that he had heard of such incidents happening and was in search of persons who would actually come forward; he also said that he had been investigating the allegations and stories from a multi-angle dimension and had verified them from different sources, who had confirmed it. He acknowledged that he had seen the offending text messages.

Sexual harassment is serious business, and it is rampant, prompting the government to promulgate the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010, and also to make amendments in Section 509 of the Pakistan Penal Code. In my article “Harassment: fact, perception and law” published in this paper in June 2011, I wrote: “The law protecting women against harassment at the workplace and the mandatory code of conduct need to be strictly enforced. Prevention of retaliation by the aggressor needs to be implemented in letter and spirit. Most of all, we need to educate the masses, the law enforcement agencies, our legal practitioners as well as the judiciary. We need to empower our girls to use their rights not in a slipshod manner, but to exercise prudence and make informed choices. We urgently need to stop blaming the victim and instead focus on the aggressor so that such acts are not repeated. It needs to be remembered that the most vulnerable are girls from the middle and low socio-economic status, who have limited choices in life, travel in public transport, and do not have the luxury of relying on their background and contacts to be able to take a stand or make a complaint. We need to ensure that such victims do not suffer in silence. There is a need for a sustained collaborative effort by all segments of society and not just a temporary hype.”

I do not know what happened in this case except what I have gleaned from the papers and the web, and since no contradiction has been made I am assuming that it may be correct. The questions that need answers are: according to the law, the formation of an ‘inquiry committee’ consisting of “three members of whom at least one member shall be a woman. One member shall be from senior management and one shall be a senior representative of the employees or a senior employee where there is no CBA. One or more members can be co-opted from outside the organisation if the organisation is unable to designate three members from within…” was mandatory within 30 days of the law coming into force. Was such a committee in place at the MCC? Why did the PCB form a two-member committee? Who was representing the players? There are conflicting newspaper reports on exactly how many members were there in the inquiry committee; if there was a third member, who was it? The inquiry committee has vast powers, among others “to summon and enforce attendance of any person and examine him on oath; to require the discovery and production of any document.” Were Imran Khan and Shahadat Hussain summoned? Since it was alleged that text messages were received, was the mobile phone/call data obtained? Was the record of the FIR against Seema Javed summoned? Was her explanation that the same pertained to one of her friends running away from home, and subsequently, appearing in court to record her statement that she was not kidnapped and left of her own free will substantiated? Was her claim that the FIR was registered in 2011 and after that she had played several matches with the MCC verified? The girls categorically denied the handwriting and signatures on the applications/apology letters given by the MCC to the anchor, which was confirmed by him as being different on each document. Was the authenticity of these documents substantiated, were they examined by a handwriting expert? Were the other girls who were contacted on call on the show summoned as witnesses? Was the allegation that certain players who did as asked were allowed to play for the ‘region’ without playing for the ‘district’ in violation of the rules, looked into? Were the parents of some players and the girls themselves, who had allegedly left due to the sexual harassment, called to give evidence? Was evidence collected in respect of the alleged ‘slap’?

Did the inquiry committee ensure that the employer or accused in no case created any hostile environment for the complainants so as to pressurise them from freely pursuing their complaint? If the players could come on television and explain in detail what transpired, why would they not appear before the committee or retract their allegations? The law states that “adverse action shall not be taken against the complainant or the witnesses.” Was it followed? Does the MCC display the ‘Code of Conduct’?

Assuming that the inquiry committee did all of the above, why did the PCB ban the players in violation of the law that clearly stipulates that “the Inquiry Committee may recommend to Ombudsman for appropriate action against the complainant if allegations levelled against the accused found to be false and made with mala fide intentions”? Is there not an Ombudsperson in Punjab functioning under this particular law? Did anyone tell the players that they have the right to appeal within 30 days against the PCB’s decision to the Ombudsperson?

I guess justice has indeed been served: lock, stock and barrel.

The writer is an advocate of the High Court