41 percent appeals unsolved yet due to Legal Commissioner Seat vacant; Chief Commissioner has a month in tenure but no requisition moved to scrutiny committee
By: S.K. Sami
Peshawar: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Commission lost its teeth and functions as under KPRTI Act 2013, the commission shall be headed by the Chief Information Commissioner (A retired senior Government servant in the rank of BPS-20 while the commission shall comprise of two more members i.e. legal Commissioner having court expertise and a second Commissioner from the civil society). On the contrary, the most important post of legal commissioner has been kept vacant for about more than two years in the commission. Moreover! The Governance and Policy Project (GPP) has already shouldered on the responsibility by hiring relevant firms to arrange public information trainers and to create awareness among the general public of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa about the Right to Information Act and its usage, but the commission is after the trainers hiring as well as seminars in remote areas by its own self, with staff visit to the respective areas. The outdoor activities of the commission further affect its performance of proceedings by insufficiency of required quorum to provide the constitutional rights to the people under applet authority. According to official details provided to Country News by a source 41 percent appeals for information are awaited in the commission towards dispose up as in-house activities are not being given enough attention for provision the requested information accordingly.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act about the information Commission says that: “on the commencement of this Act, Government shall within a period of one hundred and twenty 120 days, establish a Information Commission to be known as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Commission.” Under this clause of the Act the commission according to previous practice had to move a requisition letter to the scrutiny committee in December 2021 for nomination the names for the Chief Information Commissioner as Four 120 days prior to the retirement of the presently designated Chief Commissioner. According to official record of the commission office the current head of the commission to be retired in second week of April in the ongoing year. Source informed that the Chief Commissioner has prohibited the concerned official to move letter about the appointment or searching out any suitable senior retired officer to be designated as Chief Commissioner in the Commission.
As per the official documents the KP Right to Information Commission had proposed amendments in the Act to the provincial cabinet, including extension in period of service tenure as well in upper age limit for post of Chief Commissioner and Commissioners. The documents denote that “the Cabinet approved the proposed amendments in Section 02, 06, 25, 26 & 32 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013, and decided to keep the tenure of office of the members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Commission to be three years.”The Act also indicates that “(5) The Chief Information Commissioner and the Commissioners shall hold office for a term of three years from the date on which they assume office and shall not be eligible for re-appointment (6) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (5), the Chief Information Commissioner and Commissioners shall not hold office after they have attained the age of sixty-five (65) years.”
Already one post of legal commissioner has kept vacant while the present Chief Commissioner tenure ends in second week of April, 2022 and of Commissioner in July of the current year. No proceedings can take place in the commission if one more member deducts from the quorum in such circumstance the Commission will be dysfunctional until the quorum has not been filled according to Act. Another question arises that why the commission has not moved the letter for searching suitable candidates till now.