PIC directed Islamabad DC To Provide Information Under RTI Act Within 10 Days
ISLAMABAD: After the failure to provide the requested information to a citizen under the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2017, Pakistan Information Commission has directed Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Hamza Shafqat to provide the requested information to the appellant as per his request received by the ICT administration on August 1, 2019, within the 10 working days of the receipt of this order.
The deputy commissioner, in the order is directed to take immediate steps to proactively share through the website all categories of information mentioned in Section 5 of the Right of Access to Information Act 2017 and submit the compliance report to the commission by August 17, 2020.
The order was issued after the ICT the administration didn’t provide the requested information to a citizen, Shehzad Yousafzai. The information was supposed to provide by the administration within a maximum of 20 working days of the receipt of the information request and thus, failed to implement Section 14 (1) and (2) of the RTI Act 2017.
Later, Yousafzai filed an appeal with the commission on 20/08/2019, in which the applicant stated that he had requested information from the deputy commissioner Islamabad under the RTI Act 2017 but didn’t receive the requested information.
What information was sought from ICT DC?
The applicant had requested a list of committees constituted by the ICT administration to run administrative affairs along with the purpose of each the committee, list of the members of each committee along with their departments and designations, contacts details of chairman and secretary of each committee and details related to the dates of the last and next meeting of each committee.
How Information commission processed the appeal?
The Commission through a notice dated 26/08/2019 called upon the ICT administration to submit reasons for not providing the requested information. However, the administration did not respond to the notice. After that, the commission has fixed hearing date for 10/03/2020 through the hearing notice sent on 25/02/2020 to the applicant and the DC both.
However, no one appeared on behalf of the deputy commissioner on the date of hearing on March 10, 2020.
The commission is of the view that the respondent failed to implement Section 12 and Section 13 (1) & (2) of the Right of Access to Information Act 2017 as requested information has not been provided to the appellant. It also notes with grave concern that why the respondent has ignored the request of the appellant and has not attended the hearing.
Where does application fall under RTI Act 2017?
The requested information by the appellant falls within Section 5 (a), (b), (d) and under 6 (d) of the Right of Access to Information Act 2017. Under the RTI Act 2017, the requested information by the applicant requires proactive disclosure as the committees are constituted to carry out certain tasks for the Islamabad administration. The respondent by not responding to the notice and the hearing notice issued by the Commission has shown total disrespect to the RTI Act 2017.
