LAHORE: The Punjab Information Commission on Wednesday declared that (the contents of) an approved (official) summary is not exempt from disclosure, and it can be wholly or partially withheld only if it is established that the disclosure will harm any interest of the government.

The ruling came in response to a complaint filed by Assistant Professor Muhammad Muniruddin of a Lahore college, seeking a direction to the provincial higher education department to give him certain information under the Right to Information Act.

The department had agreed to provide the information but not the related summary sent to the chief minister. But it could not convince the commission whether its stance was under the law or not.

While giving its ruling over the issue, the commission declared that in the instant case, the summary had already been approved and, hence, the deliberative process on the related subject had been completed. Therefore, its disclosure cannot be termed premature. Besides, the summary did not seem to include any information or views whose disclosure may harm any interests (of the government) as mentioned in the law.

Commission for provision of information to academic

In many instances, even when a summary is in process, the public interest will require that the proposal and relevant arguments are shared with citizens, and their views are also sought for sound and inclusive decision and policy making. The noting portion of files too is not exempt per se, as any claim of exception has to be justified by establishing the likelihood of harm as a result of the disclosure.

Concluding, the commission asked the department to provide to the complainant all the requested information, including the summary, as soon as possible but not later than May 16, and submit a compliance report.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2016