Establishment Division refuses to disclose civil servants’ assets

Published April 19, 2021
The Establish­ment Division has refused to make public details of assets owned by powerful bureaucracy. — Photo courtesy Establishment Division website
The Establish­ment Division has refused to make public details of assets owned by powerful bureaucracy. — Photo courtesy Establishment Division website

ISLAMABAD: The Establish­ment Division has refused to make public details of assets owned by powerful bureaucracy, saying this is a labourious and time-consuming task which does not fall within its purview and disclosure of their assets will jeopardise interests of civil servants.

The Establishment Division has challenged the order of the Pakistan Information Commis­sion (PIC) which has sought disclosure of details of assets owned by civil servants, particularly officers of powerful service cadres such as the Pakistan Administrative Service and Police Service of Pakistan.

In a petition filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the Establishment Division has stated that the information sought is general as the term ‘government officer’ includes everyone working in federal ministries, divisions, autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies and allied departments and even officials posted abroad.

IHC moved against information commission’s order

“Maintenance of such a data is not the responsibility of the Establishment Division under the rules of business. Further, collection of huge data from the quarters concerned is quite time-consuming,” the petition says.

It contends that the requisite information is not “public record” as only a “decision and final orders” passed in relation to civil servants may be treated as public record.

The Establishment Division claims that the details civil servants have provided in the assets declaration form cannot be disclosed under the Right of Access to Information Act.

Subsequently, it requests the IHC to set aside the commission’s order.

On a petition of a concerned citizen, Nadeem Umar, the PIC last month directed the Establishment Division’s public information officer “to provide the following requested information to the applicant, with intimation to this commission, within 10 working days of the receipt of this order”.

The petitioner sought details of assets declarations, list of officers, their designations and current postings, the names of officers whose promotion was halted due to non-submission of asset details, and the list of officers, with their designations and current posting data, who had never submitted their assets declaration during their service tenure.

The petition also inquired if “it is a fact that the Establishment Division has decided not to promote those officers who are not submitting their asset declarations” and whether “the Establishment Division conducted any inquiry/inquiries regarding the increase in assets of the officers”.

The petitioner also sought “list of the cases, or list of the officers, whose cases are sent to any agency for verification regarding the increase in their assets, along with the details of their current status”.

The PIC, comprising Chief Information Commissioner Mohammad Azam and Information Commissioners Zahid Abdullah and Fawad Malik, issued a notice to the Establishment Division which did not respond to it.

Subsequently, the commission passed an ex-parte order.

The commission maintained that public interest outweighed any harm to privacy of the civil servants who had failed to fulfill their obligation of submitting details of their assets.

The PIC held that “it is only through the disclosure of the requested information that citizens of Pakistan who pay taxes for, inter alia, the salaries of civil servants, will be able to know the names, designations and number of officers who are not fulfilling their obligation of submitting their assets declaration; frequency and duration of the failure on their part in submitting assets declaration; and action taken, if any, by the Establishment Division against the officers who failed to submit their assets declaration”.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

Out of control
Updated 19 Feb, 2025

Out of control

AS bodies continue to fall in Kurram despite a state-sanctioned ceasefire, one wonders how long local militants’...
Hollow words
19 Feb, 2025

Hollow words

IT is not uncommon for politicians to resort to the use of hyperbole in order to boost their public standing. ...
Migration matters
19 Feb, 2025

Migration matters

THE grass, it seems, did appear greener on the other side to millions of people as evidenced by the latest UN ...
Cholistan project
Updated 18 Feb, 2025

Cholistan project

GPI goals align with Pakistan's broader economic aims but the manner in which the initiative was launched raises questions.
Right to know
18 Feb, 2025

Right to know

IT is an unfortunate paradox that while on paper Pakistan has some of the most impressive right to information laws,...
Dam dispute
18 Feb, 2025

Dam dispute

THE situation in Chilas needs attention and a fair-minded approach so that it can be resolved amicably. Diamer ...