Case ordered against man for ‘misusing’ RTI law

LAHORE: The Punjab Information Commission has ordered the Jhang district police officer (DPO) to register a case and conduct investigations against a person, who attempted to blackmail the municipal committee chief officer through ‘misuse’ of the Right To Information (RTI) law.

According to official documents available with the reporter, Chief Information Commissioner Mahboob Qadir Shah gave his verdict in Mudassir Ismail Bhatti Vs. Municipal Committee Ahmadpur Sial case, which was a first case of its nature. He said it transpired during thetion that one Mudassir Ismail, who used to impersonate a journalist, had been minting money from the government officers on the basis of the information he would extract through the RTI law. An application had been submitted against him by Municipal Committee Ahmadpur Sial Chief Officer Syed Saleem Iqbal.

The chief information commissioner said it was an irony that the RTI law had been misused against the government officers for pressuring them and making personal gains. The commission verified the facts and ordered the DPO to register a case against Mudassir Ismail Bhatti and conduct investigations against him.

However, the chief information commissioner, taking action on an application, submitted by Mudassir Ismail under the RTI law, ordered the municipal committee to make public all its budgetary allocations from 2017 to 2021 in 14 days.