Against the law: RTI Commission f ines Khalifa Gulnawaz hospital official

Jahangir did not provide information he was asked for.

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Commission fined the chief executive of Khalifa Gulnawaz Teaching Hospital Bannu Rs25,000 on Monday for not providing the information that was requested from him.

According to details, Muhammad Qudsi, the applicant, had sought information from Dr Muhammad Jahangir Khan.

As Jahangir is also the public information officer of the hospital, he is responsible for dealing with applications sent to the facility. However, he failed to oblige the request.

After receiving complaints from Qudsi, the commission sent various letters to Jahangir, asking him to provide the requested information. However, he failed to comply with the law and did not send the information after which the commission issued a show-cause notice to him and summoned him to the RTI office. Jahangir told the commission he would provide most of the requested information but failed to do so.

Therefore, a fine of Rs25,000 was imposed on Jahangir under Section 26 (3) (b) of the RTI law. Under this section, officials who prevent or delay the disclosure of information can be fined.

When received, the fine will be paid to the complainant, Qudsi, as compensation.

Nature of information

Qudsi had asked for Dr Jahangir’s appointment letters for various posts he held at Bannu Medical College. Other information, including his number of absences and the research papers he has written, was also sought. Qudsi had also asked about the number of vehicles Jahangir used. Moreover, details of termination, postings and transfers of nurses, paramedics and doctors at the hospital were also sought.

Recently, the commission had also fined the registrar of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan for not providing the information sought from him within the stipulated period of 60 days.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2015.