A legal notice has been served to Institute of Public Health (IPH) Director Dr Muhammad Abdur Rahim over his decisin to make the Islamic dress code mandatory for Muslim employees during office hours.
Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Yadia Zaman sent out the notice on Sunday, saying the IPH director committed contempt of court as what he did was a direct violation of a High Court order and that is a punishable offence.
Also Read - IPH director now sorry for Islamic dress code mandate
As per the court order, people cannot be forced to wear prayer or skull caps, veils, or other religious clothing in workplaces, schools, and colleges, said the notice.
It added the IPH director has three days to respond or else “a writ will be filed with the High Court in this regard.”
Also Read - Government institute makes Islamic dress code mandatory
On October 29, Dr Rahim made a public apology and cancelled the notice issued earlier in the day that had made it mandatory for IPH’s Muslim employees to follow the Islamic dress code, and for all the employees to keep their mobile phones switched off or silent during office hours.
His retreat came after day-long uproar, especially from netizens, over the notice asking all-male officials and staffers at the IPH to wear trousers over their ankles, and female employees to wear hijab and clothes covering their ankles.
Also Read - Health minister orders immediate action against IPH dress code notice
As the matter drew serious media attention and started sweeping the internet, the Health Services Division served Dr Rahim a notice to explain in three days why he had issued the notice.
Besides, Health Minister Zahid Maleque directed his ministry’s secretary and the director general of Directorate General of Health Services to take immediate action over the matter.