Punjab Information Commission non-functional

The News International: Lahor: Friday, September 15, 2017.

Ever since the retirement of its chief information commissioner and two information commissioners, the Punjab information commission has become totally non-functional.

Even worse is the fact that no stopgap arrangement has been made to keep things moving. At the moment there is not a single commissioner there to look after the affairs of the commission.

The retirement of all the commissioners has not only affected routine work but has also led to a phenomenal increase in the backlog of Right To Information (RTI) requests whose fate is yet to be decided. The number of yet to be decided cases of RTI requests with the commission stands around 2,000. Unfortunately, there is no solution in sight as the Punjab government is constantly delaying appointment of new commissioners.

According to sources, 540 complaints regarding RTI requests made to different departments were accepted for hearing by the commission in 2015, 1020 in 2016 and 797 in 2017. Majority of these could not be forwarded to the departments concerned or followed up properly because commission is totally non-functional since May 2017.

The tenure of Mazhar Hussain Minhas, Chief Information Commissioner, ended in March 2017 while that of Ahmed Raza Tahir and Mukhtar Ahmed Ali, information commissioners, ended in March and May of the same year respectively. Punjab Information Commission used to call respondent departments for hearing if they failed to provide the requested information to those seeking it under the RTI law. There has been no hearing since May 2017 all these three posts have become vacant.

Punjab Information Commission receives complaints and takes action if any department provides wrongful information or refuses to receive the request and does not process the application. After examination of the complaints and the evidence received, the commission can exercise the power of civil court to issue summon for witnesses or records. The commission also decides whether the reason cited by the department for non-disclosure of information is genuine or just a lame excuse. There are apprehensions among different quarters that these delaying tactics are being used by the government to avoid accountability and deny the basic right of the citizens to seek information in public interest.

Secretary Information and Director General Public Relations, Punjab, Raja Jahangir Anwar said summary regarding appointment of Commissioners has been forwarded to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the commissioners will be appointed within few days.