Respect Right to Information Law for transparent elections: Farhatullah Babar

ISLAMABAD: President Human Rights Cell of Pakistan People›s Party and former senator Farhatullah Babar called to respect Right to Information Law for transparency in election season and said it is imperative that the Right to Information Law is respected by all public bodies to promote transparency and accountability as elements for free and fair elections.

However, ‘The Right to Information Act 2017’ is not being respected by powerful quarters which is encouraging the entire bureaucracy to flout the law and avoid transparency,” he said in a statement on Monday.

Farhatullah Babar said that the Ministry of Defence has been refusing to provide information about the post-retirement perks and privileges of defence officers for the last over three years on the ground that it was a security matter and could not be made public.

The PPP president Human Rights Cell said that continued disrespect of the law by the powerful is not only highly disappointing but also a matter of serious concern as it has made redundant the very law passed by the Parliament to ensure transparency and accountability. “Democracy rests on the tripod of transparency, accountability and rule of law.

Farhatullah Babar also called for urgently setting up of Balochistan Information Commission in accordance with “The Right to Information Act” 2021 passed in February that year. He said that the absence of the Commission has made the Act redundant and the people of Balochistan have no forum to appeal against provincial bureaucracy refusal to provide information.