FIA ordered to provide details of enquiries to petitioner

The News International‎‎‎‎‎: Lahor: Friday, September 23, 2016.

Rejecting the FIA’s claim that providing details of total number of enquiries and cases registered during the last six years to a complainant falls under Official Secret Act 1923, the Federal Ombudsman has ordered the Interior Ministry to direct the agency to provide the details to the complainant within 30 days.

This correspondent had filed a request under Right to Information Act 2002 and sought year-wise details of total number of enquiries and cases registered in all zones of the FIA during the last six years from 2010 till 2015.

The correspondent had also sought details of total amount allocated in the annual budget for investigations during those years.

Responding to the RTI request, the agency through its Assistant Director Legal (Admin) Munawar Iqbal Ranjha stated that the complainant had no nexus with the FIA’s enquiries, most of which were of quite important and sensitive nature, information whereof could not be disseminated to any unconcerned agency or person. The information cannot be shared with the complainant in terms of the provisions of the Official Secret Act 1923, he further stated.

The complainant filed a complaint with the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Federal Ombudsman) on August 8, 2016.

During the hearing held on August 25, 2016, the ombudsman rejected the claim of the FIA that the complainant was seeking secret information which fell in the domain of Official Secret Act and could not be shared with him.

The ombudsman further explained to the representative of the agency that complainant was only asking for year-wise number of enquiries registered and the budget for investigations.

In his findings, the ombudsman observed that the information sought by the complainant was neither sensitive nor secret as no details of the enquiries being conducted had been asked.

“Only total number of enquiries and the allocated budget for investigations, year-wise, have been asked,” he said and observed that they clearly fell in the public domain and are thus required to be provided under the law in force.

The Interior Ministry is, therefore, advised to direct the Federal Investigation Agency to provide the requested information to the complainant.

“Compliance with the above recommendations should be reported within 30 days of the receipt of a copy of these findings”, the order, dated Sep 8, 2016, reads.