Pakistan Commission: speaker’s ruling cannot restrict right to information
The Pakistan Information Commission has ruled that the National Assembly speaker’s decision to classify certain records cannot restrict citizens’ right of access to information if it does not explain why the harm from disclosure outweighs the public interest. Dawn reports.
Journalist’s appeals
The commission issued the ruling while considering two appeals by journalist Saddia Mazhar against the National Assembly Secretariat. In one of them, she requested information about officials deputed to the Secretariat since January 2018, including the institutions from which they were deputed, their ranks, appointment and promotion dates, as well as documents concerning their induction into the Secretariat.
The Secretariat stated that minutes of meetings, official records and recommendations concerning employees had been classified under the speaker’s ruling of October 4, 2022. The ruling, adopted pursuant to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007, also classified committee minutes, reference materials, working papers and certain personal employee records.
Legal requirements
The commission recognized that the speaker, as head of the National Assembly Secretariat, may exercise the powers provided for under clause (f) of Section 7 of the Right of Access to Information Act 2017, although this provision expressly mentions the minister responsible for a public body. At the same time, these powers must comply with the requirements of the law.
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In the commission’s view, the speaker’s ruling did not contain grounds explaining why the harm from disclosure outweighed the public interest. Therefore, it could not serve as a basis for classifying the records. The commission also found that the ruling has neither prospective nor retrospective effect, as it does not meet the legislative criteria for classification.
Notifications of employees’ appointments and promotions had already been published in the official gazette, so there were no legal grounds to withhold this information, the commission said. It also rejected the Secretariat’s objections concerning the applicant’s failure to provide a copy of her national identity card and her personal appearance.
The commission ordered the deputy secretary of the National Assembly or a designated official, within 10 days of receiving the ruling, to provide the journalist with links to available data on the Secretariat’s website and certified copies of the remaining requested documents. It also stressed that the 2017 law takes precedence over conflicting provisions of other laws.
