July 18, 2026
by Ahmed Saeed
LAHORE
The Federal Ombudsperson for Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace has imposed a fine of Rs500,000 on Muhammad Rasheed Malik, Acting Director of the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), after finding him guilty of workplace harassment against a female colleague.
In a final order dated July 15, Federal Ombudsperson Fauzia Viqar ruled that Malik’s repeated use of derogatory and gender-insensitive language in an official APP WhatsApp group constituted harassment under Section 2(h) of the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010.
Of the total fine, Rs400,000 will be paid to the complainant, Sanam Junejo, a Reporter/Sub-Editor at APP, as compensation, while the remaining Rs. 100,000 will go to the National Exchequer.
According to the order, the harassment began during APP’s internal union election campaign, when Junejo was contesting the post of Press Secretary from a rival group. The order states that Malik, then aligned with the opposing faction, repeatedly posted messages in an official APP WhatsApp group using derogatory terms referencing the transgender community, alongside remarks invoking the complainant’s ethnicity as a member of the “Androon Sindh” community.
The record shows one message included a fabricated book title mocking Junejo’s group, and a separate post stated: “khusray bhi chawal hotay hain, aik baar chawal khusron ke ghar bacha paida hogaya, tou unhon ne choom choom kar maar diya.”
The learned Counsel for the Complainant also argued that since she has not been able to bear any children, the Accused used that and associated her with the transgender community
Malik admitted authorship of the messages during cross-examination, as did six defence witnesses who testified on his behalf. The Ombudsperson found that although the messages did not name Junejo directly, their cumulative effect, circulated during an active workplace rivalry, was reasonably understood by her and her colleagues as targeting her.
“In workplace harassment cases, direct naming of the complainant is not an indispensable requirement where the surrounding circumstances sufficiently establish that the impugned conduct was calculated to target or demean the complainant before her colleagues”, the order noted.
On the substance of the case, the Ombudsperson held that the repeated use of the term “khusray” as ridicule “unmistakably reflects a prejudicial mindset based upon gender identity,” rejecting Malik’s defence that the remarks were merely political banter tied to union elections. The order states that participation in workplace elections permits robust debate, but does not extend to “employing discriminatory language founded upon protected characteristics.”
Findings of Departmental Inquiry Not Binding on FOSPAH
The complaint was filed with the Ombudsperson’s forum in September 2025, after Junejo’s earlier complaints to APP management and to Parliamentary Secretary for Human Rights Saba Sadiq failed to result in disciplinary action against Malik.
The ruling separately addressed an internal APP inquiry committee that had earlier cleared Malik of the allegations. The Ombudsperson found that inquiry legally defective, noting it was not constituted as a three-member committee as required under the 2010 Act, and held that its findings could neither bind her forum nor serve as proof of guilt or innocence. The order states plainly that “the findings of any departmental inquiry neither bind this Forum nor relieve it of its obligation to independently appreciate the evidence produced before it.”
The order also notes that Malik was promoted to the position of Director following the internal inquiry, a move the Ombudsperson said “undermined the credibility of the inquiry” and “further emboldened the Accused’s misconduct.”
In her concluding remarks, the Ombudsperson noted that when a woman’s entry into a contested and visible role is met with an organised campaign of ridicule invoking her gender and her community, the harm inflicted travels well beyond the individual complainant
“It sends an unmistakable signal to every woman in the organization that seeking visibility, leadership or contested office carries a personal cost that her male colleagues are never made to bear”, the order said.
She added that this is especially consequential in the media sector, where editorial and decision-making roles remain “overwhelmingly concentrated in the hands of men.”