IHC restrains sharing of selection board records

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has suspended an order of the Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) to provide a petitioner with the minutes of the 2020 and 2021 meetings of the Central Selection Board (CSB).

An IHC bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb on Thursday stayed the order of PIC while hearing a petition filed by the Establishment Division secretary.

Presenting his arguments, Deputy Attorney General Arshad Mahmood Kiani said the petitioner seeking minutes of the meeting is a common citizen and not a civil servant.

Assistant Attorney General Azmat Bashir Tarar said the prime minister has the discretion to put an embargo on the release of any piece of information.

Justice Aurangzeb observed that if he had enough powers, the prime minister would put an embargo on everything. He also asked the state law officers why they challenged the decision of PIC after a long delay.

Tarar informed the court that they received the PIC order recently. The court later issued notices to the respondents as it adjourned for an indefinite period.

PIC had ordered the Establishment Division to provide the minutes of the CSB meetings for 2020 and 2021 as well as the list of the officers promoted to a citizen. The establishment division secretary had challenged the PIC order in the IHC.

PIC is an independent and autonomous enforcement body, established under Section 18 of the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017 to ensure the implementation of this act.

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Its role is to establish mechanisms so that citizens can exercise their constitutional right of access to information in matters of public importance.

In this connection, it takes steps for public awareness of the law; helps federal public bodies comply with the law; holds training of public information officers; monitors their performance; decides complaints and takes action against those failing to comply with the provisions of the act.

The CSB of the Establishment Division is supposed to meet twice a year to consider promotion opportunities for the employees of the Civil Service of Pakistan to grade-20 and grade-21.

The board is chaired by the chairman of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), with its members being the Establishment Division secretary, cabinet secretary, four federal secretaries each having domicile of one of the four provinces and all four provincial chief secretaries.

From the parliament, one member of the Senate of Pakistan and one member of the National Assembly of Pakistan are appointed to sit on the board. The secretary of the board is the Establishment Division additional secretary.