Former Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem has said that if an Information Officer fails to comply with an order from the Information Commissioner, and withholds information for 45 days, then criminal charges can be pressed against them.
Former Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem has said that if an Information Officer fails to comply with an order from the Information Commissioner, and withholds information for 45 days, then criminal charges can be pressed against them.
Under the Right to Information Act, individuals can seek information from any office. If the office refuses to divulge the information, or fails to respond, then the matter can be lodged at the Information Commissioner's Office.
Once a complaint is received by the Information Commissioner's Office, open hearings are held, after which a decision is reached. The commission's ruling holds the same legal weight as a lower court ruling, and compliance is compulsory. Generally, the Commissioner rules for the information to be disclosed within a period of five days.
For those who want to contest the decision, an appeal can be lodged at the High Court within 30 days. However, in recent days, the Commissioner's orders remain not complied with, nor appealed.
Shameem referred to this in his blogpost and wrote today that in the instance the Commissioner's ruling is not appealed at the High Court, then it is an order with legal standing that cannot be changed. He said that failure to comply with such a ruling would have legal ramifications.
Article 65 of the RTI Act states that if 45 days pass without abiding by a ruling of the Commissioner, or appealing said ruling, then the Information Commissioner can approach the Prosecutor General's Office and ask for charges to be pressed for failing to comply with a legal order.
According to Shameem, this offence carries a prison sentence of 4 months and 24 days.
If the act is committed by a person in a senior State position, then under Article 1100 of the Penal Code, the penalty can be raised. Similar applies for repeat offences, which could even lead to a year's prison sentence, Shameem said.
Shameem said that providing the information after the set deadline has passed also does not free them from the offence.
While Shameem was serving as PG, the Information Commissioner submitted a case where the President's Office had refused to comply with an order. Shameem, at the time, instructed Police to investigate the matter, but no resolution has been reached in the case so far.
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