ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top court has ruled this week that discrimination against people on the basis of their gender at the workplace is also a form of harassment as the relevant law is not just confined to sexual behavior.

Cases related to harassment of women at the workplace are common in Pakistan, and according to the Islamabad-based non-profit organization, Alliance Against Sexual Harassment, about 93 percent of Pakistani working women, in both private and public sectors, acknowledge facing some kind of harassment in professional settings.

Moreover, the 2022 report of Pakistan’s Federal Ombudsman Secretariat for Protection Against Harassment at Workplace states that from 2018 to 2022, there were 2,169 complaints of harassment filed in the government sector, 582 lodged by women and 148 by men. In the private sector, there were 994 complaints from women and 445 by men.

The Pakistani parliament ratified the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Amendment) Act, 2022 as a law in January 2022. The amended law expanded the definition of workplace harassment, giving protection to informal workers, students, and freelancers, and redefining the workplace, among others.

Based on the upgraded law, a three-member Supreme Court bench, led by Justice Yahya Afridi and comprising Justices Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Ayesha Malik, heard a review petition against a 2021 judgment related to workplace harassment which had been passed by the court in 2019.

“The purpose of harassment laws is to address gender-based discrimination at the workplace and not to limit it to sexual forms of harassment,” a 14-page judgment, authored by Justice Malik and uploaded on the website of the top court on Tuesday, said.

The judgment added that the law included a broad range of conduct and behavior that results in workplace-related problems with serious consequences, one of the main being gender inequality.

“Being an issue grounded in equal opportunity and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment, sexual harassment in any form violates the dignity of a person as it is a demeaning practice that aims to reduce the dignity of an employee who has been forced to endure such conduct,” it said.

“Sexual harassment as gender-based discrimination is gender-based hostility, which creates a hostile work environment. It is a reflection of the unequal power relations between men and women which translates into a form of abuse exploitation and intimidation at the workplace which makes it a violation of a basic human right.”

In view of the definition of workplace harassment, the court ruled that a 2021 judgment of the Islamabad High Court appeared to have “an error” owing to the interpretation of harassment displayed by the court, the definition of which was “patently against the Act and its statement of objects.”

“Both the president [of the country] and the Islamabad High Court decided the case of [complainant] Nadia Naz on the understanding that harassment means sexual harassment having a sexual nature and form and did not examine the facts in the context of Nadia Naz’s perspective and her understanding of the injury caused,” the judgment read.

The court observed that in cases of harassment, the victim’s perspective on the issue was relevant.

“The standard of a reasonable woman should be considered to determine whether there was harassment, which rendered the workplace hostile and all relevant factors should be viewed objectively and subjectively,” it added.

“In doing so, the order of the president and the judgment of the high court had failed to give due emphasis on the injury claimed and the harmful nature of the events to the complainant.”

Under the circumstances, since harassment was understood in a limited context, it said, both the order as well as the judgment decided the cases on a mistaken understanding of the law,” the verdict said while setting aside the previous orders.

KARACHI: As Pakistan gears up in these challenging times to present the fiscal budget for the next year, the country’s industrialists hope to receive maximum relief, though economists dismiss the possibility of significant incentives under the evolving political circumstances.

Pakistan’s finance minister Ishaq Dar is all set to present the fiscal budget for the year 2023-24 on June 9 in the National Assembly, amid an inconclusive deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under a bailout program signed back in 2019.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed hope the budget would bring economic prosperity, business-friendly policies, and public welfare to the country. He has also promised to increase Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) from Rs700 billion to Rs950 billion to boost growth and create jobs.

Unlike the past few years, Dar interacted with a number of industrialist groups and representatives from various trade bodies to get their input and discuss budget proposals.

“He was receptive and listened to our proposals and assured to consider,” Abdul Aleem, general secretary of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), a representative body of multinational companies operating in Pakistan, told Arab News.

“We proposed to broaden the tax net to boost revenue collection and not burden people with more taxes as they are already reeling under super inflation and high taxes. We also proposed to enhance the annual income tax threshold from Rs600,000 to Rs1.2 million,” he continued, hoping the OICCI recommendations would be considered by the government.

In another meeting with the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) delegation, the finance minister assured that “the most difficult reforms have been done and the bleeding is over,” according to a statement issued after the meeting.

As the South Asian nation faces dire dollar liquidity crunch, the KCCI suggests that importers be allowed to arrange payments of foreign exchange through their own sources amid declining forex reserves.

Tariq Yousuf, KCCI president, said the chamber has called for “introducing a tax-friendly environment so that the maximum number of individuals could be encouraged to get into the tax net.”

The KCCI has also proposed to reduce the rates of customs duty to two percent, sales tax to 12 percent, and waive the value addition sales tax of three percent on commercial importers.

The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) in its proposals strongly suggested an “agriculture emergency” and recommended the formation of a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) for the agriculture sector.

“Agri REIT has the potential to significantly transform the Pakistani agricultural landscape,” Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, FPCCI president, said.

According to an estimate, Pakistan’s agriculture sector has the potential to overcome the current account deficit and balance-of-payments crisis within six years if the agriculture sector grows at six percent to achieve the necessary economic growth and job creation, he said.

The FPCCI called for budgetary measures for the growth of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises, the industrial and commercial segment, and tax policies and reforms.

To end the uncertainty, chaos and rumors in the market, the FPCCI suggested the government should launch an incentive scheme to channel dollar holdings from lockers and personal safes into bank accounts, exempting such deposits from any taxes.

Upon withdrawal of the Pakistani rupee, a one or two percent profit should be offered as an incentive.

The government will be presenting the budget for FY24 amid stagflation and a lot of uncertainties related to the upcoming elections and the fate of inflows from the IMF and other lenders, according to Topline Securities.

Amid these circumstances, Pakistani economists rule out any significant incentives under the evolving political situation after recent actions taken by the state against former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

“I don’t think the government will dole out any significant incentives,” Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri, executive director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), told Arab News.

“It was thought the government would give a pre-election budget, even if it would be unrealistic, to raise public expectations. But after the political developments that led to the disintegration of a major opposition party [PTI], it is most likely the next government will be formed by parties from the [ruling] PDM [Pakistan Democratic Movement alliance].”

Suleri said after the next elections, the new government would have to negotiate an IMF program, adding that the budget would therefore not have too many “adventurist measures.”

“I think the budget will have a net-zero impact, giving from one hand and taking from the other,” he added.

The budget outlay for FY24 is estimated at Rs13-15 trillion, against Rs9.6 trillion proposed for FY23, assuming a record-high markup cost due to the high-interest rate.

The government is likely to set a tax revenue collection target of Rs9-9.2 trillion for FY24, 8.6 percent of GDP, which is up 21 percent from the target of Rs7.5 trillion set for the current fiscal year and 29 percent higher than expected tax collection, according to Topline Securities.