KARACHI: The Right to Information (RTI) bill has been finalised by the Senate committee on information and the bill will be tabled soon. It has already been sent to the cabinet division for approval at its next meeting after which it will be tabled in the Parliament.
This was stated by Senator Farhatullah Babar, who is also the convener of the Senate subcommittee on RTI. He was speaking at the national seminar on ‘Citizens’ Right to Information and Social Accountability’ organised by the Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU) on Monday. Other speakers included SMIU vice-chancellor Mohammad Ali Shaikh, former Supreme Court judge Justice Deedar Hussain Shah and former Sindh High Court judge Justice Majida Rizvi.
Babar said that the underlying principles of the RTI bill were to ensure maximum disclosure, end of blanket immunity in the name of national security, minimum exemptions, the right to appeal to the Information Commission, provision of whistleblowing and imprisonment for wilful destruction of record to avoid disclosure. He said the concept of blanket immunity in the name of national security had been done away with and exemptions were only limited to defence planning, deployment of forces and defence installations. Furthermore, the exemptions will have to be accompanied by a detailed explanation.
While the bill provides for an information commission to decide appeals, it rejects the notion that its members must only be retired judges of the higher judiciary. It includes provisions to include retired bureaucrats, lawyers, media personnel, academicians and other deserving professionals.
Talking about the history of the RTI law in Pakistan, Shaikh said that the first attempt to establish such a law was made in February 1997 due to pressure from the Asian Bank and the World Bank. It was a half-hearted effort by the government and an ordinance was promulgated that was not of much use. The then government did not turn the ordinance into an act and it expired, he said.
The second attempt was made during Musharraf’s era again due to international pressure from the institutions that provided aid. Thereafter, a temporary presidential order was issued.
Then, the Charter of Democracy was signed between the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz in 2006. It promised to enact the RTI law to ensure transparency.
Later, Article 19-A was added to the constitution, according to which, the right to have access to information in all matters of public importance is subject to regulation and reasonable restrictions imposed by law.
Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi seemed sceptical about the Sindh section of the RTI provincial law. She said the law states that only public records can be disclosed and all records will become public records in 20 years. “It is like giving from one hand and taking from the other”, she said.
According to Babar, the real issue is not making a law, but that of the culture of secrecy. “We keep things under wraps in the name of national security,” he said. “The defence ministry had asked the parliament to vote against the RTI legislation until a no objection certificate is obtained from the ministry.” This was, of course, disregarded by the committee, he added.
According to Babar, to ensure the enactment of the RTI legislation, the academicians and the civil society have to wage a collective struggle against the prevailing culture of secrecy.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2014.
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