Draft of RTI bill unanimously approved in Senate body meeting

Whistleblowers’ clause dropped; Marriyum says this clause can be misused against others

ISLAMABAD: The Senate's Select Committee on Right to Information (RTI) bill 2016 on Tuesday unanimously approved draft of the RTI bill and decided to drop the clause for "whistleblowers" from the bill. 

The meeting chaired by Farhatullah Babar thoroughly discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the clause and then reached the conclusion that there was no need to add this clause to the bill. He said that the report had been given final touches in today’s meeting and the draft of the law had been given final shape. He said that under the draft law the prime minister would appoint members to three-member Information Commission.

Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage (IBNH) Marriyum Aurangzeb opined that there was no need of this clause as punishment for willful destruction of record was part of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). She apprehended that as there was no punishment proposed under the clause for accusing someone of destroying record without proof, some people could misuse the law. 

Senator Pervaiz Rashid said that the Information Commission would be fully powered and had authority to take action against officials involved in such illegal activities. He feared that such a clause would prove a distraction and ruin the benefits of the bill. 

Senator Rubina Khalid said that the clause of whistleblowers should not be made part of the bill as it might be misused for settling personal scores by certain people. An official from Ministry of Law and Justice informed the committee that clauses for awarding punishment for willful destruction of record were already part of the PPC.

At the conclusion, Farhatullah Babar said as the minister had pleaded her point of view very effectively and all members had supported her opinion, the clause of whistle blower is dropped from the RTI bill. Senior officials from the ministries of IBNH and Law and Justice were also present during the meeting.