PIC issues verdict on KE privatisation details plea

Orders ministry to take right to information laws into account in contracts

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Information Commission directed the Ministry of Privatisation to take laws related to public access to information into account when drawing out privatisation agreements.

It ordered the ministry to maintain a balance between the commercial interests of private parties and overall public welfare in such contracts.

Announcing a decision on a petition seeking the publication of KE's privatisation details, a three-member bench of the commission, led by Chief Information Commissioner Muhammad Azam, ordered that laws on the right to information should be published on the ministry's website.

The commission said that the aforementioned directions should be implemented in a month. The bench, which also included Fawad Malik and Zahid Abdullah, issued the verdict over the amendment to clauses/sections approved for KE's privatisation

The Ministry of Privatisation admitted keeping KE's privatisation contract secret. According to the ministry, the details could not be made public as special sections/clauses were included in the contract to keep it secret.

It feared that a private party may reach out to the International Court of Arbitration if the contract is made public and the country could face a huge penalty for violating the agreement.

The PIC also observed that the privatisation contract could not be made public due to the inclusion of special clauses or else the country could suffer a huge financial loss.

The copies of the verdict were sent to the prime minister's secretary and Ministry of Privatization secretary.

A plea to make KE's privatisation details public was filed by Advocate Tariq Mansoor. He maintained that the contract was drafted in 2005 to amend the approved sections for privatisation.

Claiming that the amendment was made to case a loss to the finance department, Advocate Mansoor moved the PIC to order the concerned authorities to make the contract details public. He also sought an insight of the extent to which transparency was ensured.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2021.