Justice delayed justice denied

 

 Student wins after 17

years in defamation suit against Punjab University

 Wajiha Urooj said that in those early days she suffered so much mental anguish that she even thought of committing suicide.

 It took Wajiha Urooj seventeen years to get justice from the justice system in Pakistan.  Still, the decision may not be final.  Wajiha Urooj, a dual citizen of Pakistan and Canada, had filed a defamation suit against Punjab University Lahore in a civil court 17 years ago.

 On the 8th of this month, an appellate court in Lahore rejected the appeal of Punjab University Lahore and upheld the decision in favor of Wajiha on the application of Wajiha Urooj filed in the civil court of Lahore.

 In the petition, Wajiha Urooj had claimed that Punjab University Lahore had declared him a failure in the entire examination by incorrectly showing him absent in an MA English paper.  His move not only disgraced him in society but also allegedly tarnished his image by the university staff.

 He claimed that a university clerk had told his father in his presence, "Do you know what your daughter was doing?"  No action was taken against the university clerk individually, nor was there any evidence to further clarify the sentence.

 She has been living in Kingston, Canada with her husband and three children for the past ten years.

 Last year, a Lahore civil court, while dealing with Wajiha Urooj's plea, upheld his position and ordered the Punjab University to pay him Rs 800,000 in damages.  However, the university had appealed against the decision.

 After years of court scrutiny, this month's verdict is in favor of Wajiha Urooj, but he is now 38, not 21, and has unfulfilled dreams of joining Pakistan's civil service.  Are

 She has been living in Kingston, Canada for the past ten years with her husband and three children.  Their eldest daughter is fourteen years old.  Seventeen years ago today, she was an MA English student in Lahore when the Punjab University, Lahore, declared her absent in a first-year examination paper and failed her, which was later proved wrong in court.

 On the one hand the shock of failure and on the other hand the misrepresentation of absenteeism from the paper by the university put Wajiha Urooj in a dangerous situation.  He had faced questions from people about his character.

 Speaking to the BBC from Canada, Wajiha Urooj said that when the university clerk in front of her told her father,  So he bowed his head in shame.

 That question sounded like an arrow to me.  My father was sweating as he told me and I didn't know where to go. '

 "I became so depressed that I cried for two days and my condition worsened.  I have never failed in my academic career.  I knew what kind of leaflet I had given.  If it wasn't for the best, it would have been easy for me to pass. '

 After doing MA, she wanted to take Pakistan's civil service exam or go abroad for further education, but both her dreams did not come true.

 Wajiha Urooj said that in those early days she was so mentally traumatized that she even thought of committing suicide.  "Then I refrained from taking this extreme step, thinking not to hurt my mother, who was already very ill."

 He said that his family members fully supported him.  When he challenged the university's claim in the Lahore High Court, following in the footsteps of his father, Saghir Muhammad Khan, a former judge himself, about four months later, the then university officials found his paper and returned it to him.  Also passed.

 By then, they had suffered heavy losses.  The university never apologized to him for the pain he suffered during those four months and for the character he was humiliated or insulted.  Therefore, in the year 2000, he claimed damages of Rs. 2.5 million against the Punjab University, Lahore.

 The university went against him from the High Court to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, but his appeal was rejected from everywhere.  Finally, in 2016, the civil court ruled in favor of Wajiha Urooj.  However, the court reduced the amount of damages from Rs 2.5 million to Rs 800,000.

 The Punjab University again challenged the decision in the Court of Appeal, which ruled against it again this month.  However, the university still has the right to challenge this decision.

Punjab University spokesman Khurram Shehzad said that as soon as he received a copy of the court order, he would see that if the student was right, he would abide by the court order.  However, if they feel that the university is right, they will contest it in the next forum.