Article 19-A of the Constitution of Pakistan states, “Every citizen shall have the right to have access to information in all matters of public importance subject to regulation and reasonable restrictions imposed by law.”
With this fundamental right granted to the people of Pakistan, the country finally entered the era of transparency but the weak law continues to make this process tiresome and inhibitive. The undefined linguistics of restrictions and the broad generalisation has left a loophole in the system which is now being compromised and fraudulently used by public officials to hide discrepancies. Even the Sindh Freedom of Information Act 2006 does not define the exclusions comprehensively enough to stop misuse. No rules and regulations have been outlined till to-date.
Recently, a citizen sent a “Right to Information (RTI)” request to Pakistan Steel Mill (PSM). The state corporation denied access to one of the most pertinent and influential pieces of information, utilising the same ‘exclusions clause’. PSM claimed that information revelation regarding the educational qualifications and respective designations of the staff employed at the Heat Treatment shop will breach privacy of the PSM employees and is therefore not permissible under RTI law.
Rationality cannot justify this excuse by the corporation as the public — the paymasters — have the right to know if the employees have been hired on merit or not. Simultaneously, it is their right to know if the technical and dangerous facility is being managed by sturdy professionals so that they can assess the safety of the employees at the corporation. This harmless request has been wrongfully denied by PSM.
The Supreme Court has recently elaborated on the implications of article 19-A in the Memogate case. The statement reads, “….it was clear from reading of Art. 19A of the Constitution and S.3 (1) of the Freedom of Information Ordinance, 2002 that the constitutional right was much broader and more assertive than the statutory right which by its own terms was restricted to disclosure of official record only…”
The Apex court further defines, “All state functionaries have to understand that in a very sense, they are employed in the service of the People of Pakistan and are paid for by them. The loyalty, therefore, of these state functionaries has to be the Constitutional order established by the people.”
In the light of these rulings the denial pursued by PSM is unconstitutional. It seems that the loyalty of the public corporation has been shifted to its hierarchy instead of the people. The public is being denied to know about the investment of their money and the management they have been paying for. How can any state institution deny this fundamental right of the people ordained under the republic governance system where people are the epicenter of power?
After the PSM and ombudsmen office denied the citizens his right to access information, the sovereign citizen has decided to take up the matter with the Honourable President of Pakistan Mr Mamnoon Hussain in his letter sent out on February 7, 2015, to request his ‘Right to Information’ to be considered a right but his appeal lies unanswered since then.
HUMNA MEHWISH
Islamabad