UMER SHEHZAD vs OMBUDSPERSON (MOHTASIB) PUNJAB Ss — 2026 PLD 303 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE

Case information

Citation: 2026 PLD 303 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE
Court: Lahore High Court
Year: 2026
Reporter: PLD
Parties: UMER SHEHZAD vs OMBUDSPERSON (MOHTASIB) PUNJAB Ss
Subject matter: Criminal
Provisions referred to: Civil Procedure Code; Penal Code

Fields are extracted from the reported citation and judgment text. Where a detail is not stated in the record, it is not shown.

Judgment text as reported

UMER SHEHZAD VS OMBUDSPERSON (MOHTASIB) PUNJAB Ss. 8 & 10---Workplace harassment complaint---Jurisdiction of Ombudsman---Procedure of entertaining complaint---Non-adherence to Civil Procedure Code, 1908, Penal Code, 1860 and Qanun-e-Shahadat, 1984---Scope---The legislature has intentionally refrained from subjecting the Ombudsperson to the rigid, technical and formalistic procedural framework applicable to civil suits or criminal trials---This conferment of procedural flexibility is neither accidental nor superfluous---It reflects a deliberate legislative design to ensure that complaints of workplace harassment often sensitive, interpersonal and context-specific are resolved in a manner that is fair but not encumbered by the technicalities that might stifle or frustrate the delivery of justice---Significantly, neither the Act nor the Rules contain any express provision mandating the Ombudsperson to adhere to the formal rules of procedure that govern civil courts (such as the Code of Civil Procedure,1908) or criminal courts (such as the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898)---Equally, there is no requirement necessitating compliance with the strict rules of evidence contained in the Qanun-e-Shahadat, 1984---Courts have consistently held that administrative and disciplinary authorities vested with quasi-judicial powers are required to observe principles of natural justice, but are not bound by the technical rules of criminal evidence and procedure---The Ombudsperson's forum functions on the civil standard of proof i.e. preponderance of probabilities and not on the criminal standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt.

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