The Express Tribune: Sindh: Saturday,
October 08, 2016.
For any
society to flourish, it is imperative its people are given the right to hold
their rulers accountable. In practical and simple terms, this means there are
no restrictions on the kind of questions citizens ask from their government. It
has been said time and again that without the free flow of speech and
information, a state cannot realistically solve its problems. The argument for
the free flow of information is a rational one. Free and transparent
information brings out the truth for all to know. Obstruction of information
can lead to abuse of power and squashing of citizens’ rights.
Right to
information: Bill to be presented in Sindh Assembly
In many ways,
the post 2013 election period has been promising for the right to access to
information movement in Pakistan. Soon after the elections, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
(K-P) and Punjab led the way by passing internationally acclaimed Right to
Information (RTI) laws and setting up information commissions. Since then many
had expected that Sindh, Balochistan and the federation would follow suit in
replacing their culture of secrecy with more open and progressive RTI laws.
While this has not happened so far in Balochistan and at federal level, Sindh
has prepared its ‘Transparency and Right to Information Bill, 2016’, which
according to Provincial minister Sharmila Farooqi, will be tabled in the Assembly
soon.
The proposed
draft stands very close to the RTI laws of K-P and Punjab. However, there are
both inherent weaknesses and strengths in Sindh’s drafted Bill, which must be
improved before it is finally passed by the Assembly.
First and
foremost, the complaint and penalising mechanism is extremely weak. For
instance, in the event a complainant decides to lodge an appeal with the
commission, the burden of proof of showing the designated official or a public
body has not acted in accordance with the provision of the Act lies with the
litigant. Instead, the law should oblige the public body to bear the burden of
proof because such a provision will not only deter bureaucracy, which is not
accustomed with the tradition of proactive dissemination of information, but
shall also encourage the majority in Sindh, who are straddled in poverty and
illiteracy, to access information without unnecessary hassles. However, the
draft is positive on keeping the application process very simple. The requester
can even submit an application on a plain paper, not necessitating filling a
prescribed application form.
Civil
society urges government pass Right to Information Bill
Secondly, the
proposed Sindh RTI draft upholds the principle of maximum disclosure. Like many
other laws, this bill also bars access to information which is deemed to cause
harm to “national interests”. Historically, every institution in Pakistan has
sought to exempt itself from the purview of accountability on the vague grounds
of national interests. In the present times as well, no provincial or federal
government seems willing to take out the veil of secrecy from its decisions.
However, a significant step has been made in Sindh draft RTI through the
incorporation of “Notwithstanding anything contained in subsection (1), if the
Commission determines that the public interest in such disclosure outweighs the
harm that shall or is likely to be caused by such disclosure, it may direct the
Designated Official to provide the information.” Blanket immunity for any
institution is not optimal.
Thirdly,
almost all modern RTI laws have a protection clause for people blowing whistle
against irregular, illegal and corrupt practices. Importance of effective,
robust Whistleblowers Protection law for the elimination of corruption cannot
be underscored. In fact, the risk of corruption is significantly intensified in
situations where protection is not sheltered in cases of reporting of
misconduct, fraud and corruption. In this regard also, K-P is the first province
in not only leading the way in carrying out a separate legislation on
whistleblowers protection but its RTI law also contains a clause on it. Both
Sindh and Punjab also need to protect those who expose corruption.
Right to
information: K-P’s law judged ahead of other provinces
Overall,
Sindh’s Transparency and Right to Information Bill 2016 is a considerably well
drafted law. Given that Sindh has consistently done dismally on various
governance indicators, it is hoped effective implementation of RTI will pave
the way for an open and transparent governance and help address the menace of
corruption in Sindh. It is also now time that Balochistan and the federal
government pass similar laws, and allow for greater accountability and
transparency.
In today’s
information age, hiding data is not easy. People with an appetite for
information are getting it from alternate sources. There is a need to
institutionalise this dissemination of information through the passage of RTI,
Whistleblower Protection and similar laws because keeping information secret
only creates distrust among the public.
The
writer is a graduate from LUMS, who is currently a DAAD scholar 2014 for
Masters in Public Policy and Good Governance in Germany.
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