The Current: PK: Friday, 21 August 2026.
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The National Assembly
Secretariat spent over Rs35 million from 2022 to 2026 on private lawyers to
contest information requests made under Right to Information (RTI) laws.
The Pakistan Information Commission released the figures following Appeal No. 5626-04/2026, which journalist Saddia Mazhar filed under the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017.
The disclosed records show the highest annual payout occurred in FY2022-23, when the Secretariat paid Rs20.4 million to eight lawyers. Payouts totaled Rs2.64 million in FY2023-24, Rs11.1 million in FY2024-25, and Rs1.61 million in FY2025-26.
Since January 2022, the Secretariat empanelled 10 special counsel: Hafiz S.A. Rehman, Irfan Qadir, Ilyas Siddiqui, Arfat Ahmed Chaudhary, Amaad Nasir Kundi, Lamia Niazi, Sanaullah, Ahsan Bhoon, Anwar Mughal, and Farhad Ali Khan Durrani.
Advocate Ahsan Bhoon collected the highest single payment to an individual lawyer, taking home Rs9.9 million in FY2024-25. Advocate Irfan Qadir received Rs7.5 million, Barrister Lamia Niazi received Rs6.9 million in FY2022-23, and Advocate Ilyas Siddiqui received Rs2.85 million. Advocate Arfat Ahmed Chaudhary received payments across all four fiscal years Rs1.35 million in FY2022-23, Rs960,000 in FY2023-24, Rs1.2 million in FY2024-25, and Rs900,000 in FY2025-26 totaling Rs4.41 million.
The legal fees stem from litigation that began when the Pakistan Information Commission issued show-cause notices to the secretary of the National Assembly Secretariat over RTI appeals. The Secretariat challenged the notices in the Islamabad High Court, which remanded the cases back to the Commission for final adjudication.
Zafar Sultan, Director General of the National Assembly’s Media Wing, confirmed the Secretariat engaged private lawyers and paid around Rs35 million in legal fees. Sultan stated, “The lawyers were engaged during the tenure of the PTI, and no counsel has been hired during the tenure of the current government.”
However, RTI records reveal the Secretariat filed 14 cases, 12 cases in 2023, one case in 2024, and one case in 2025 while filing zero cases in 2022 or 2026.
The records show the Secretariat spent public funds on external private counsel despite the presence of the Attorney General for Pakistan and federal law officers, who constitute the official legal team of the federation.
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The Pakistan Information Commission released the figures following Appeal No. 5626-04/2026, which journalist Saddia Mazhar filed under the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017.
The disclosed records show the highest annual payout occurred in FY2022-23, when the Secretariat paid Rs20.4 million to eight lawyers. Payouts totaled Rs2.64 million in FY2023-24, Rs11.1 million in FY2024-25, and Rs1.61 million in FY2025-26.
Since January 2022, the Secretariat empanelled 10 special counsel: Hafiz S.A. Rehman, Irfan Qadir, Ilyas Siddiqui, Arfat Ahmed Chaudhary, Amaad Nasir Kundi, Lamia Niazi, Sanaullah, Ahsan Bhoon, Anwar Mughal, and Farhad Ali Khan Durrani.
Advocate Ahsan Bhoon collected the highest single payment to an individual lawyer, taking home Rs9.9 million in FY2024-25. Advocate Irfan Qadir received Rs7.5 million, Barrister Lamia Niazi received Rs6.9 million in FY2022-23, and Advocate Ilyas Siddiqui received Rs2.85 million. Advocate Arfat Ahmed Chaudhary received payments across all four fiscal years Rs1.35 million in FY2022-23, Rs960,000 in FY2023-24, Rs1.2 million in FY2024-25, and Rs900,000 in FY2025-26 totaling Rs4.41 million.
The legal fees stem from litigation that began when the Pakistan Information Commission issued show-cause notices to the secretary of the National Assembly Secretariat over RTI appeals. The Secretariat challenged the notices in the Islamabad High Court, which remanded the cases back to the Commission for final adjudication.
Zafar Sultan, Director General of the National Assembly’s Media Wing, confirmed the Secretariat engaged private lawyers and paid around Rs35 million in legal fees. Sultan stated, “The lawyers were engaged during the tenure of the PTI, and no counsel has been hired during the tenure of the current government.”
However, RTI records reveal the Secretariat filed 14 cases, 12 cases in 2023, one case in 2024, and one case in 2025 while filing zero cases in 2022 or 2026.
The records show the Secretariat spent public funds on external private counsel despite the presence of the Attorney General for Pakistan and federal law officers, who constitute the official legal team of the federation.
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