The right to information was only given protection by the 18th Amendment. The Right to Information Act provided a mechanism by which a Pakistani could obtain information about the government’s activities: after a request had been denied by a department, there would be an appeal to the Pakistan Information Commission, whose order would be sent to the Cabinet Division. However, that does not seem to be how things work. Inquiries by citizens about various issues have run up against the obduracy of officials, who have been quick to opt for the ‘national security’ excuse, to carry on concealing information as before. Government departments are quick to go to court with this excuse. The latest example has been provided by the refusal of the Cabinet Division to disclose the details demanded in an RTI request of the gifts made to Prime Minister Imran Khan on the ground that such disclosure would jeopardize the conduct of foreign relations, and was thus a threat to national security.
The decision on whether there is indeed a threat to national security will be made by the Supreme Court, where the Cabinet Division has appealed the Information Commission’s order saying it must provide the information. This would be entirely proper, only the Supreme Court, acting through its Registrar, has itself been reticent when a request for information about judges’ salaries and perks was made. There has been similar refusal about the COAS’s and the number of vehicles Punjab’s CM uses.
The Information Commission is a full-time institution, but it seems toothless, and unable to resist the conspiracy of silence that all spending taxpayers’ money seem to engage in, whether civil or military bureaucrats, judges or politicians. The idea of the RTI law was to disclose how government money was spent, and how certain individuals exploited state resources by tailoring the rules to suit themselves. The idea was not to expose illegalities as how the rules were followed, even though some shady things were being done. Clearly, there are those who do not want their activities exposed. It might be legal, but it will be hard to explain.
