Daily Times

Access to information has been recognised as a fundamental right of people across the world as well as in Pakistan. Right to information was formally made a fundamental right in 2010 under the 18th Constitutional Amendment through insertion of Article 19 A in the Constitution of 1973. Following insertion of Article 19 A in the Constitution, the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act (RTI) 2013 were promulgated in 2013 in the Punjab province in order to bring fairness and to reduce corruption in governmental and semi-governmental bodies.

The RTI 2013 is a complete form of legislation, and if given a chance fairness and transparency may flourish across Pakistan. It is a very simple legislation, and submitting an application for disclosure of information is so simple and plain that one needs not have legal background to have access to it. Under this Act, the Punjab Information Commission was set up with an office in Lahore, which to date has taken strict and serious action against those public information officers who had denied people access to information. The office of the public information officer is very much operational in Lahore, and it has the powers of civil court, thereby operating as a civil court. The RTI 2013 is a good piece of law that has helped citizens to have access to any sort of information, as long as that information does not fall under exceptional categories, as stated in Section 13 of the RTI 2013.

The object behind promulgating such a piece of legislation was to reduce corruption and give access to public as how the public bodies work and to bring about fairness in all public bodies. The Information Commission’s main function is to ensure that the general public has access to information if that information is not provided or is denied by the public information officer of any public body. The information commission following a complaint of any person by virtue of the provisons of the RTI 2013 can summon the public information officer to demand a reason for not giving access to information to the information seeker. Under the Act, public information officers are appointed who are controlled and monitored by the Information Commission Punjab. The main task of the public information officers is to disclose information when sought by citizens under Section 10 of RTI 2013. The Commission has been given the power to levy penalties on those appointed public information officers who through whatever means denied access to information to people.

The Information Commission Punjab, on many occasions, issued summons to public information officers of public bodies who had denied access to information when sought by ordinary citizens. The most recent debate that has gained media attention relates to a Punjab University public officer who denied access to information to an information seeker, who by virtue of Section 10 of RTI 2013 sought information relating to criteria of hiring of visiting faculty members across the university. Additional Registrar Dr Kamran Abid, Public Information Officer, was summoned by the Commission for joint hearing with the complainant, whereby the Commission was pleased to pass decree against the university, and in favour of the information seeker. The Commission further directed Dr Abid to make public the criteria for hiring of visiting faculty members. The Commission, in 2014, took serious action against the EDO Vehari under Section 15 for not complying with its duties under the RTI 2013.

The general public knows very little about enactment of the RTI 2013; it is the responsiblity of non-profitable NGOs and the provincial government of Punjab to introduce programmes to raise awareness of the same. This piece of legislation, no doubt, will slowly but surely get the attention of the people. Most public information officers are still hesitant to disclose information when sought by people. That mindset would change when awareness relating to the RTI 2013 arises; mostly, it is high ranking bureaucrats and officials who do not want the general public to be aware of their irregularities.

I believe that the RTI 2013 does not only ensure fairness but it also ensures that the general public get to know how the public bodies spend their taxes. The writer Zeeba Hashmi when asked about the RTI 2013 said, “A check on the system to run on merit and transparency can help build confidence of the public in the Commission. Further, with true information shared any irregularity in service delivery can be addressed before further damage is done to public interest.”

The writer is an advocate of the High Court, and can be reached at greenalaw123@hotmail.com