{
  "id": 10950146,
  "title": "Lawyers criticise FCC's 'regressive' judgement in workplace harassment case",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/lawyers-criticise-fccs-regressive-judgement-in-workplace-harassment",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-30T13:21:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn",
    "slug": "dawn",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2033736/lawyers-criticise-fccs-regressive-judgement-in-workplace-harassment-case"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Lawyers and journalists have expressed concerns over the Federal Constitutional Court's (FCC) decision to nullify an earlier ruling from the Islamabad High Court, which had in turn overturned a 2014 order that required two National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) employees to retire. Nadia Sarwar, an employee at NBP since 2008, had filed a complaint alleging harassment by Aqeel Abbas and Usman Shahid, who allegedly forced her to work overtime and demanded details for leave applications. The FCC overturned the IHC decision, which had reinstated the ombudsman's 2013 order for their compulsory retirement.\n\nCritics argue that the FCC's decision is regressive and undermines previous legal judgments. Aaminah Qadir, a lawyer, stated that the FCC's ruling \"goes against an SC judgement by a female judge who understands the implications of harassment at work may not always be overtly sexual.\" Barrister Maleeha Bokhari criticized the FCC's decision as \"wrong in law and dangerous in effect,\" pointing out that the 2022 Parliament amended the 2010 Act to include gender-based discrimination, stalking, cyber stalking, and derogatory gestures, extending protection to former employees and informal workplaces. Bokhari emphasized that gender gap widens as more women enter the workforce and harassment forms evolve. Lawyers Reema Omer and Hassan Abdullah Niazi also called the FCC's decision \"regressive\" and \"terrible,\" stating that it fails victims of harassment and does not align with international best practices. Moreover, journalist Benazir Shah noted that the FCC's narrow interpretation of workplace harassment law would leave some forms of gender-based harassment outside the law.",
  "summary": "Lawyers and journalists have raised concerns about a recent ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), in which it set aside an Islamabad High Court (IHC) judgement in a workplace harassment case filed by a National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) employee in 2012. Nadia Sarwar, who was employed at NBP since 2008, alleged that the petitioners, Aqeel Abbas and Usman Shahid, had harassed her by…",
  "key_points": [
    "FCC nullifies earlier ruling, reinstating NBP employees' retirement",
    "Lawyers criticize FCC decision as regressive and dangerous",
    "Gender gap widens, harassment evolves beyond overt sexual nature"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}