Draft legislation: Senate panel okays right to information bill

Baber voices concern regarding implementation of the proposed law.

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Tuesday approved Right to Information Bill 2013 with an assurance from the government that it would not delay the implementation.

The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting approved the bill along with proposed amendments.

During the proceedings, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Baber informed the panel that the upper house had already passed the bill but the government had proposed some amendments.

After discussion over the amendments, the bill will again be referred to both houses of parliament, he said.

Babar, however, raised a red flag over the implementation of the proposed legislation. Expressing his apprehensions, the PPP stalwart said that the government might implement this bill in the last year of its tenure and use it for political gains. Implementation of the bill should start immediately after it is passed, he added.

Defending the government’s stance, Minister for Information Senator Pervaiz Rashid said that the delay in signing the bill into law was due to the absence of proper infrastructure.

“We don’t have any intention to implement this law during the fifth year of our tenure”, he insisted.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2014.