Training Manual For PIOs 0

Training Manual
TRAINING MANUAL
PUNJAB TRANSPARENCY AND RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT

2013
DEVELOPED FOR:
PUNJAB INFORMATION COMMISSION
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TRAINING MANUAL FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS
TWO-DAY TRAINING COURSE
Session Outline
Day One
Introduction
1. What is right to information (RTI) and why is it important?
2. RTI Principles
3. Punjab Transparency and RTI Act
4. Role of PIOs: Procedure for Handling Requests
Day Two
5. Exemptions
6. Complaints
7. PIOs’ Other Duties
Summary and Review
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 1
SESSION ONE: WHAT IS RIGHT TO INFORMATION? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? ................................. 3
SESSION TWO: RTI LEGISLATION PRINCIPLES ................................................................................... 10
SESSION THREE: PUNJAB TRANSPARENCY AND RTI ACT .................................................................... 20
SESSION FOUR: HANDLING RTI REQUESTS ........................................................................................ 34
SESSION FIVE: EXEMPTIONS ............................................................................................................. 43
SESSION SIX: COMPLAINTS............................................................................................................. 51
SESSION SEVEN: PIOs’ OTHER DUTIES ................................................................................................. 57
FINAL SESSION: SUMMARY AND REVIEW .......................................................................................... 62
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INTRODUCTION
Activity 1: ’Ice-breaker’
E.g. pair up participants, ask them to interview each other, and then describe their partner to the
whole group
Discussion of expectations from the course
__________________
In December 2013 the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act was passed by the
Provincial Assembly.
The Act has implications for all public bodies in Punjab. It requires them to put in place systems
to make information readily available to citizens. This includes appointment and training of
Public Information Officers (PIOs).
You have all been appointed as Public Information Officers by the respective
departments/organizations you work for. This course is designed to help you understand
exactly what that entails and how you can carry out your role.
This is a two-day course, divided into seven main sessions:
On day one we will be focusing on understanding what the term ‘right to information’ means
and why it is important. This will be followed by an overview of the Punjab Transparency and
RTI Act so you are familiar with its main features and the rationale behind these. We will then
examine the responsibilities of public bodies under the Punjab RTI Act. All of this will set the
context for the final session on day one, which focuses on your role as PIOs. The main
responsibility of PIOs is to handle RTI requests submitted by citizens. In the session on
‘Handling Requests’, we will guide you through the process and explain what you should do in
different scenarios.
On day two, we continue to focus on the duties of PIOs. Some information has been exempted
from disclosure. This has obvious implications for your work – you need to understand what
can be disclosed and what can’t be so you give the right response to requestors – so we will
have a session on ‘Exemptions’.
While, hopefully, this guidance will help ensure that all RTI requests are handled properly and
there are no problems – some requesters will have complaints. The law lays down both an
internal review procedure for handling these, and an external complaints mechanism through
the Punjab Information Commission: in the session on ‘Appeals’ we will explain both of these.
PIOs are responsible for all aspects of RTI implementation. In Session 7 we look at the other
duties of PIOs: improving records management, ensuring proactive disclosure of information,
and reporting to the Punjab Information Commission.
There will be a final ‘Summary and Review’ session in which we will go over everything we’ve
covered in the course, and address any queries or concerns you might still have. Be warned,
there will also be a quiz in this session to see who remembers the most!
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The course is designed to be interactive, with a lot of exercises and activities for you to carry out
– we believe in ‘learning by doing’! We also draw heavily on examples from other countries
where RTI is already being implemented, so you can see how RTI works in practice.
Please feel free to jump in and ask questions at any stage – we see this very much as a
collaborative effort in which we all work together, but this will only be possible through your
active participation. So please get involved and make the most of this opportunity to learn
about RTI and the critical role you will be playing in implementing RTI in Punjab.
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SESSION ONE: WHAT IS RIGHT TO INFORMATION? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Session Overview
This session looks at the meaning of RTI, and how the concept has gained rapid global
acceptance in recent decades. It examines the benefits of RTI in detail, illustrating these with
actual examples of RTI use from across the world.
By the end of the session you should have a good understanding of why RTI is so important for
good governance, democracy and development.
What do we mean by right to information?
Right to information is the term used for the right that citizens have to access information from
government. Citizens can ask government for information, and government has to provide it
because accessing that information is citizens’ right.
The underlying premise of RTI is that information belongs to the people, not government.
If you think about it this makes sense, because all the information government holds is about
the people and the country – about all of us. Of course there is some information that cannot be
disclosed by government for security and other reasons, but in general the functioning of
government – decisions, plans, policies, activities, expenditure and so on – is something that
should be open to citizens.
Something for you to think about:
What is the traditional relationship between government and citizens (in developing
countries)? Who has ownership of information? Is information shared freely?
How does RTI change this traditional relationship?
Terminology: Right to information or freedom of information?
Another term you might have heard of is freedom of information or FOI. Both RTI and FOI are
used in literature and legislation to refer to citizens being able to access government
information – some countries have RTI Acts and others have FOI Acts. However, FOI is wider in
scope referring not only to the right to seek and receive information but also to the right to
impart information and thus includes freedom of opinion and expression. Indeed, FOI often gets
confused with freedom of expression and press freedom. RTI is thus a better term because it
more clearly conveys the sense that citizens have the right to access government information.
RTI is a fundamental human right
Right to information is a fundamental human right. It is included in Article 19 of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to
hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
Article 19, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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Right to information has rapidly gained acceptance across the world. In 1990 only 13 countries
had some form of right to information or freedom of information legislation. Today 95
countries have such laws. This is a huge and very rapid expansion. It reflects the importance of
RTI to good governance – something we’ll discuss in a moment.
Among the countries that have RTI/FOI legislation are many from the developed world: the
United States, Sweden (the first country to have such a law), the United Kingdom, Canada, New
Zealand, Japan, Germany and so on.
But increasingly, it is countries from the developing world – particularly Eastern Europe (the
former Communist bloc countries) and South America - that are adopting RTI/FOI laws: Serbia,
Ukraine, Kosovo, Brazil, Uruguay, Jamaica, Nigeria and so on.
Within South Asia, Pakistan was the first country to adopt such legislation in the form of the
federal Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002. Since then India has adopted the RTI Act
2005, Nepal the RTI Act 2007 and Bangladesh the RTI Act 2009.
The spread of RTI is not confined to countries and national governments. Many international
organizations now have access to information policies, e.g. the World Bank, Asian Development
Bank. The World Bank first adopted an access to information policy in 1994, and a new more
robust policy came into effect in July 2010 – the Bank is now recognized as being one of the
most open inter-governmental bodies.
International Right to Know Day1
International Right to Know Day began on September 28, 2002, when freedom of information
organizations from around the world came together in Sofia, Bulgaria and created the FOI Advocates
Network, a global coalition working together to promote the right of access to information for all
people and the benefits of open, transparent, and accountable governments. The members of the
Network decided to commemorate this day as a way to share ideas, strategies, and success stories
about the development of freedom of information laws and genuinely transparent governance in
their own nations.
As noted above, Pakistan has the federal FOI Ordinance 2002. In addition there is the
Balochistan FOI Ordinance 2005 and the Sindh FOI Act 2006. Recently, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
adopted the KP RTI Act 2013, and of course Punjab the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act 2013.
In Pakistan, as well as federal and provincial legislation, RTI is a constitutional right, guaranteed
in Article 19-A under the 18th Constitutional Amendment. Since the 18th Constitutional
Amendment also devolved considerable functions and powers to the provinces, responsibility
for ensuring citizens can enjoy their constitutional right to information rests to a considerable
extent with provincial governments.
Benefits of RTI
So far we have talked about what RTI means and discussed the huge spread of RTI across the
world in recent years. Let us now consider why RTI is important: what is it about RTI that has
led so many countries and international organizations to take it up?
1 http://www.freedominfo.org/features/20050928.htm.
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The direct benefit of RTI is, of course, transparency: it brings information into the public domain
and allows citizens to see what government is doing. The ‘knock on’ effects of RTI, however, are
much much wider. Its benefits include:
 Promotes accountability – the public have the right to scrutinise the actions of those in
public office and to engage in full and open debate about those actions. This requires
information: once citizens know what their government is doing they are in a position to
hold those in office accountable for their decisions and actions. The same applies for
designated oversight bodies such as parliamentary committees: they need information
to be able to fulfill their mandate. By facilitating such access to information RTI
promotes accountability;
‘Without information, accountability will merely be the shadow of an idea lacking any
substance.’
Patrick Birkinshaw, ‘Freedom of Information and Openness: Fundamental Human Rights?’ 2
 Reduces corruption – secrecy and lack of information create a breeding ground for
corruption and abuses of power. By promoting transparency and accountability RTI
curbs such abuses;
“It is not coincidental that countries perceived to have the most corrupt governments also
have the lowest levels of development or that countries with access to information laws are
also perceived to be the least corrupt. In 2002, of the ten countries scoring best in
Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index, no fewer than eight had
effective legislation enabling the public to see government files. Of the ten countries
perceived to be the worst in terms of corruption, not even one had a functioning access to
information regime.”
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative website, RTI Resources 3
 Improves service delivery – by making those in office accountable for their actions and
by giving citizens a voice, RTI helps ensure the former work for the benefit of the latter.
It promotes better planning and service delivery, i.e. improved education facilities,
improved health care, and so on, leading ultimately to better human development
outcomes.
 Promotes access to services/entitlements – when citizens have access to information
about service delivery and other government functions, they know what they are
entitled to and they know how and where to demand their right to those services and
other benefits. RTI thus empowers citizens to obtain their rights and entitlements;
 Promotes political participation – citizens who understand public affairs and what
government is doing can voice their opinion on issues that affect their lives: they can
participate in the business of government. This is true not just for voting at election
time, but also for other mechanisms for citizen participation, e.g. expressing opinions in
a policy debate, citizen oversight of services. Consider the policy process: it is not
possible to provide useful input into this without access to the policy itself, as well as the
2 Patrick Birkinshaw, ‘Freedom of Information and Openness: Fundamental Human Rights’,

(Administrative Law Review 58:1, 2006), p. 194.
3 http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/rti/what.htm#8.
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background information policy-makers have relied upon to develop the policy. RTI
facilitates citizens in making political and economic choices and participating in public
affairs and thus strengthens democracy;
 Strengthens press freedom – the media are sometimes referred to as the ‘fourth pillar
of the state’. They have an important role to play in keeping citizens informed, keeping
those in office ‘on their toes’, highlighting issues of public interest, and so on. In order to
be able to perform this role properly the media need access to information. RTI
strengthens the media, and thus democracy;
 Promotes economic growth – by promoting transparency and reducing corruption, RTI
creates a rule-based environment in which, for example, information about business
opportunities is equally accessible to everyone, contracts are awarded in an open and
transparent manner, investor confidence is high…… RTI thus creates an environment
conducive to investment and business.
 Improves government functioning – it is important to stress that it is not just citizens
and civil society groups who benefit from RTI, but also government itself. RTI makes
information available to all. Increased access to information by government officials and
public bodies makes it easier for them to carry out their duties: RTI thus increases the
efficiency of government itself.
As you can see, the benefits of RTI are indeed far-reaching. RTI is an essential requisite for
democracy, good governance, development and poverty reduction.
Activity 2: How can RTI help me?
Imagine you are each of the following, and think of the ways in which RTI could be useful to you:
1. A journalist investigating a story about corruption in a government privatization

scheme.
2. A man who applied for a passport but is still waiting for it after many months.
3. A contractor who submitted a tender for a government road building contract but it was
awarded to a rival.
4. A parent with children attending the local school, worried about the lack of teachers.
5. A provincial level civil servant tasked with presenting monthly summaries of district-
wise data.
6. A human rights activist concerned about police treatment of prisoners.
7. An environmental activist concerned about the impact of development schemes on local
forests.
8. A widow with five children who has been told she is not eligible for payments under the
local social protection program.
In each scenario, first define your objectives – what you are trying to achieve. Then consider which
type of information would help you to achieve that goal. This is the information you would use the
RTI law to access.
[To be followed by discussion.]
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Actual RTI Examples from other Countries
The case studies below have been taken from a range of countries across the world. They show
RTI being used in practice to achieve the benefits – accountability, improved services,
entitlements and so on - listed above.
South Africa: Using RTI to get water for a village
People in the South African village of Emkhandlwini had no water, while neighbouring villages
were getting water deliveries from municipal tankers. The villagers filed an RTI request for
minutes from the council meetings at which water programmes had been discussed and agreed,
and for the council’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the IDP budget. This information
showed that there were plans to deliver water throughout the region, but that somehow
Emkhandlwini had been left out. Armed with this information, the villagers were able to
successfully demand water for Emkhandlwini.
Uganda: Using RTI to stop corruption in the education system
In the Ugandan education system in the 1990s, lots of funds used to be transferred to schools
via local authorities. However, a survey in the mid-1990s found that 80% of these funds never
reached the schools. In response, the central government started publishing figures in local
newspapers of the monthly transfers that had been made to local governments. This meant that
both officials at the schools and parents of students could access information about the
(intended) size of the transfers. A few years after the programme was started, the funds not
reaching schools had dropped from 80% to 20%.
India: Using RTI to repair a village bridge
In one village in India, the bridge spanning the stream next to the village had broken six years
ago. Local people had been petitioning the government every year to have the bridge repaired,
but the officials told them that the government had not yet allocated the required funds. As a
result they had to travel an extra ten kilometres every day in order to go to the neighbouring
town or to catch a bus from the main road.
After the Indian RTI Act was introduced, the villages submitted an RTI application asking the
government for reasons why the bridge had not been repaired so far. In fifteen days they got a
most surprising reply where the Commissioner’s office informed them that as per official
records the funds for the repair of their bridge had been sanctioned five years ago and that the
bridge had already been repaired. In fact, last year additional funds had been sanctioned to
repaint the repaired bridge! However, as their RTI application suggested that the bridge had
not actually been repaired, an inspection team was being sent to enquire into the matter. The
inspection team found that the local officials had pocketed the sanctioned money and had
certified on paper that the bridge had been repaired. Therefore, action was initiated against the
guilty officials and the bridge was finally repaired in reality!
India: Using RTI to ‘scare’ officials to issue a passport
An 80-year old widow in India had applied for a passport to visit her children who lived abroad.
Months had gone by and she still didn’t have her passport. Whenever she went to the passport
office to try and find out what the hold up was, she was accosted by touts who offered to get her
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the passport if she was willing to pay a hefty bribe. She then prepared an RTI request asking
why she had not yet received her passport , who was responsible for the delay and what action
the government intended to take against the responsible officer. When she arrived at the
passport office and gave her RTI application to the concerned official, the official read her
application, asked her to wait for a minute, went inside and came back with her passport, which
he then handed to her – with the request that now that she had got her passport, she should not
file the RTI application!
Pakistan: Using FOI (RTI) to ensure safe drinking water in Islamabad
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has installed water filtration plants in various
locations in Islamabad to provide citizens with safe drinking water. However, following
numerous complaints from residents about the quality of the water, an NGO submitted a
freedom of information (FOI)4 request to the CDA Water Management Division. They sought
details related to water testing, frequency of changing the water filters, and display of
information for the public. CDA did not respond to the FOI request, so the NGO complained to
the Federal Ombudsman – following which the information was provided. This FOI request led
to CDA taking more care to ensure safe drinking water, and even inviting the NGO’s
representatives to accompany CDA officials when they changed some filters.
Thailand: Using RTI to secure education entitlements
In early 1998, shortly after the Thai RTI law was first adopted, a parent, Sumalee Limpa-owart,
used it to fight against corruption in the education system. Her daughter had been refused entry
to a prestigious state-funded school. Admission was supposed to be based on a competitive
entrance examination. Surprisingly, however, the student body was largely composed of
children from elite families, suggesting that some form of bribery was involved. Sumalee sent a
letter to the school requesting the marks and answer sheets of her daughter and the 120
students who were admitted. When she received no reply, she filed a petition under the Official
Information Act and eventually appealed the case to the Official Information Commission, which
ordered disclosure of the information. Sumalee was eventually given access to the answer
sheets and marks in March 1999. By that time, the school had already admitted to corrupt
practices in the processing of the admission of 38 students.
Slovakia: Using RTI to protect the environment
Slovak law requires companies that engage in the harvesting of trees in forests to prepare a
forest management plan, which must be approved by the Ministry of Agriculture. Historically,
these plans were classified documents. A local NGO eventually managed to gain access to these
plans under the country’s RTI law. Using information in the plans, the NGO managed to
campaign successfully for larger areas of forest to be protected as nature reserves. This was
followed in 2005 by amendments to forestry legislation requiring that the information and
background material used in developing forest management plans be made public. The new
amendments also promoted public participation in the development of forest management
plans by allowing representatives of NGOs to be present at official meetings where the plans
were discussed.
4FOI is another term for RTI. The federal law giving citizens the right to access information from public
bodies is the Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002.
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SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS
 Right to information (also referred to as freedom of information or access to

information) refers to the right that citizens have to access information from
government (public bodies);
 RTI is based on the principle that information belongs to the people, not government;
 RTI is a fundamental human right – in Pakistan it is a constitutional right;
 RTI promotes transparency, in turn helping strengthen accountability, curb corruption,
improve service delivery and empower citizens to obtain their entitlements;
 In the past couple of decades there has been a huge expansion in the number of
countries with RTI/FOI legislation – many of these are from the developing world;
 Pakistan was the first country in South Asia to have an RTI law – the federal FOI
Ordinance 2002. Balochistan and Sindh have FOI laws dating to 2005 and 2006
respectively, while in 2013 both KP and Punjab passed RTI Acts.
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SESSION TWO: RTI LEGISLATION PRINCIPLES
Session Overview
This session looks at the legal framework needed to deliver RTI. It explains, firstly, why an RTI
law is necessary, and then details the key principles that should be included in such a law and
the rationale behind these.
By the end of the session you should have a clear understanding of the principles that must be
followed in setting up an RTI regime.
Why have a Legal Framework for RTI (RTI Law)?
As we saw, RTI is a fundamental human right – included in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights - which makes it obligatory for states to provide it. In many countries, including
Pakistan, it is also a constitutional right. Despite this, it is still very important for every
country/sub-national government to have specific RTI legislation. This is vital both for public
bodies (those providing information) and for citizens (those accessing information).
RTI legislation makes it mandatory for all government entities/departments covered to comply
with requirements to provide citizens with information – it removes the element of discretion.
Moreover, it pushes public bodies to put in place the systems and personnel to provide
information to citizens. Having a law also helps public bodies because it defines exactly what
they have to disclose and what information is exempt.
In relation to citizens, RTI legislation articulates the principle that providing information to
citizens is not something done as a favour by government, but is the citizens’ right. It thus
empowers citizens to demand information from public bodies. An RTI law will also spell out the
procedure for accessing information and for making appeals, and will include a list of the types
of information that public bodies have to provide proactively, i.e. even without submission of
RTI requests. All these provisions make it easier for citizens to access information.
In sum, an RTI law spells out everyone’s roles and responsibilities – and, of course, makes it
mandatory for them to carry these out.
Getting the Right Law
Merely having an RTI law is not enough – the content of the law, the provisions in it, will greatly
determine whether it is effective or not. As you will see if you review different countries’ laws,
RTI laws come in ‘all shapes and sizes’. Depending on their content, some are more effective
than others.
Pakistan’s federal Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 illustrates this point perfectly. It is
an ‘RTI’ law but – as many of you will be aware – it has failed to deliver FOI (RTI) in practice, in
large measure because of the many shortcomings in the 2002 Ordinance itself.
What this shows is that it’s not enough to have an RTI law – it has to be a good RTI law.
What determines if an RTI law is a good one? Well, there are certain principles which all RTI
laws should include: a law which has all/most of these will be a good one, while laws that are
deficient in most of the key principles will be weak.
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The RTI principles that should be included in all RTI laws are as follows:
 Maximum disclosure, i.e. the law applies to the maximum number of public bodies and
the maximum types of information;
 Proactive disclosure, whereby public bodies have to automatically make certain types of
common interest information available to citizens (even without requests being
submitted);
 Defined and limited exceptions, i.e. information which is not covered under the law
should be clearly defined and should be narrow in scope;
 Defined procedures, i.e. the law should spell out how to request information, timelines
to respond, fees, and so on;
 Appeals mechanism, including a strong enforcement mechanism to ensure that citizens’
complaints are handled properly;
 Promotional measures, to raise public awareness of the law, as well as to ensure public
bodies take steps to facilitate information release.
These RTI principles, and the rationale behind them, are elaborated below.
Maximum Disclosure
This is perhaps the cornerstone of effective RTI: the principle that the maximum amount of
information should be made available to the public. The starting point of RTI is maximum
disclosure or the presumption that information should be disclosed – exemptions and
limitations on information release are applied later. [As opposed to governments starting with
a list of information they are willing to release, and anything not included on the list is
excluded.]
The way this principle is translated into practice is by ensuring that the RTI law applies to the
maximum number of public bodies. One definition of bodies to which RTI legislation is
applicable is as follows:
a) established by or under the constitution – legislature, executive, local administration,

judiciary;
b) established by statute – commissions, public sector enterprises, public sector banks;
c) established by executive order – corporations, boards, committees;
d) financed directly or indirectly by government and public bodies – NGOs, schools,
colleges, trusts;
e) providing public services – electricity, water, transport, telecommunications.5
The second way the principle of maximum disclosure is translated into practice is by ensuring
that RTI provisions apply to the maximum types and forms of information. ‘Information’ is thus
defined broadly to include all information held by a public body in question, regardless of form,
date of creation, who created it and whether or not it has been classified. Examples of types of
information are: documents, reports, memos, minutes of meetings, photos, videos and maps.
A third way the principle of maximum disclosure applies is in who is eligible to request
information: under a good RTI law this should be not just citizens but any ‘legal persons’, i.e.
5List based on presentation by Venkatesh Nayak, ‘Right to Information: Ideal Components of a Good Law’,
made 22-23 May 2007 for World Bank workshop in Jakarta, Indonesia.
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legally registered entities such as NGOs, corporations and the media. Ideally, an RTI law should
provide access to information to anyone – even non-citizens of a country.
Finally, a fourth implication of the principle of maximum disclosure is that people do not have to
justify or give reasons for requesting information. Accessing government information is
citizens’ fundamental right: they should not have to explain why they want it, and the law
should specify this so that no one can ask them to provide a reason.
Proactive Disclosure
Proactive disclosure refers to public bodies placing information in the public domain (e.g. on
their website) even without anyone submitting RTI requests for it.
In terms of getting information to citizens, proactive disclosure is an important step up from

simply responding to RTI requests. Lots of citizens will not know about RTI and fewer still will
make the effort to submit RTI requests. If they do, the response is something that will be sent to
them – very few will have the resources and means to make it available to the wider public, i.e. it
reaches a very limited number of people.
Proactive disclosure addresses all these issues. It makes information available to all citizens,
without anyone having to submit an RTI request. It thus greatly facilitates citizens in accessing
information. It also helps public bodies because it reduces the administrative burden on them
of responding to lots of similar RTI requests.
‘The ideal openness regime would have governments publishing so much that the formal request
for specific information…would become almost unnecessary.’
Thomas Blanton, The World’s Right to Know6
Good RTI laws include extensive lists of the types of information that public bodies have to
proactively disclose. Typically, these will cover all the common types of information that
citizens could need, for example:
 the institutional set-up of the public body

 the services it provides and how to access these
 its annual report
 its budget
 its staff strength
 procurement opportunities (tenders, contract award, etc).
Because of the benefits of proactive disclosure, it is being increasingly seen as one of the key
pillars of an effective RTI set up. More and more focus is being placed on proactive disclosure.
With this has come the realization that – just as simply having an RTI law is not enough, it must
be a good law – so simply making information available to the public is not enough. For
proactive disclosure to be effective, public bodies must also ensure that information is easily
accessible to the public, that it is easy for them to understand and that it is up-to-date.
6 Thomas Blanton, ‘The World’s Right to Know’, (Foreign Policy, No. 131 July-Aug 2002), p.56.6
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Defined and Limited Exemptions
While RTI is based on the presumption that everything should be disclosed, there will of course
be some information that cannot be disclosed – for example, for security reasons, or because it
is private information about individuals.
How to reconcile maximum disclosure with necessary exemptions? – the answer is to clearly
define what the exemptions are, and to define these as narrowly as possible. This removes the
scope for discretion (ad hoc interpretations) and ensures that only information which it would
really be harmful to disclose is exempted – and that exceptions cannot be expanded.
So what kind of information should be exempted? Well firstly, it is not specific categories of
information that should be exempted, but rather information relating to specific interests. Thus,
for example, rather than saying all information relating to the armed forces is exempt, the law
should say any information, disclosure of which would harm national security, is exempt. A
second example is personal records; rather than exempting all personal records, the law should
exempt any information relating to legitimate privacy concerns.
Typical interests which would be protected under RTI law in this way include:
 National security
 Personal privacy
 Economic interests of the country
 Relations with other countries
 Commercial interests of a third party
 Law enforcement
 Legally privileged information
 Ability of government to make decisions/policies.
[These are discussed in detail in Session 5 on ‘Exemptions’.]
The second point to stress is that the law should not impose blanket restrictions on information
related to these interests, but rather should specify that only information, disclosure of which
would cause harm to those interests, is exempted. This is referred to as the harm test.
Thirdly, a good RTI law should include a public interest over-ride whereby if the public interest
in disclosure of information outweighs the harm caused to a defined interest, the information
should be released. For example, normally information that would harm national security
would not be released, but if a document relating to national security disclosed evidence of
corruption, then the long term benefit to society of disclosing this information would outweigh
any short-term harm to national security. Hence it would be released.
The above three points can be summed up in the following three-part test for exemptions:
a) Does the information relate to one of the interests defined in the RTI law?
b) Would disclosure of the information cause harm to that interest?
c) Does the public interest in disclosure outweigh the harm caused?
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There is one further aspect that needs to be considered in relation to exceptions – secrecy
legislation. How to reconcile secrecy legislation – which effectively blocks information release –
with RTI requirements?
The answer is that, if the RTI law has a comprehensive list of interests that need to be protected
and information that could harm these interests cannot be disclosed, all legitimate secrecy
concerns should have been addressed. Hence, there should be no need for further restrictions
on information release. What this means is that:
a) other secrecy legislation should not expand on the exemptions given under RTI law, i.e.
if there is some information that can be disclosed under RTI law, its disclosure should
not be banned under any other law;
b) given that in most countries, secrecy legislation will predate RTI laws, the RTI law
should have precedence over other laws, i.e. if secrecy law bans disclosure of something
but RTI law allows it, it is the RTI law which is followed.
Who defines what is ‘classified’ and ‘secret’? Often, these labels are applied by bureaucrats
automatically, without really considering whether the content needs to be kept secret.
How could this problem be overcome? Who should be in charge of deciding what is
‘confidential’? Should this be an unlimited classification or should there be a time limit on it?
Defined Requesting Procedures
Most people are very clear on the need for RTI law to define the scope of disclosure and
exemptions – but procedures?! A lot of people assume that procedures don’t belong in the law,
but should be covered in secondary rules and regulations. This is a common mistake. For
effective RTI implementation, it is extremely important that the RTI law specify main
procedures. For example, for submitting requests – the law should specify that these can be
made on plain paper as well as standard request forms, and can be submitted electronically, by
hand and even orally. A second critical example is timelines – the law should clearly state how
long public bodies have to respond to RTI requests.
‘(W)hen writing an access to information law, it is important to consider the processes and
procedures necessary for its effective implementation and full enforcement. …. While national
security exceptions may be more interesting and controversial than the implementation
procedures, they are often much less important in determining the bill’s overall effectiveness in
promoting real transparency.’
‘Making the Law Work: The Challenges of Implementation’ 7
Setting out procedures in the law removes or limits scope for ad hoc interpretations and
decisions. Since procedures can have such a critical impact on RTI effectiveness – consider
timelines, for example, and the huge difference between allowing 14 working days to respond
and allowing 40 working days – they cannot be left to the rules and regulations. It is impossible
to predict who will prepare the rules, what the political climate will be at the time and the will
7Laura Neuman and Richard Calland, ‘Making the Law Work: The Challenges of Implementation’ in Ann
Florini ed., The Right to Know: Transparency for an open world’, pp.188-9.
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for RTI, how much debate will be allowed on these, and so on – much better to ensure key
procedures are covered at the outset in the law. The rules and regulations will then elaborate
the procedures rather than set them.
Appeals Mechanism
Another important principle of RTI legislation is that citizens who are refused information or
are not happy with the way their RTI requests have been handled, should be able to appeal
(complain) to an independent enforcement body. In other words, there should be a grievance
redress mechanism.
Who should be responsible for this?
Well, firstly, given that the natural tendency on the part of most government entities is to hold
onto information, the enforcement body needs to be an entity ‘outside’ government – or at least
completely autonomous in its functioning.
Secondly, a lot of appeals are likely to centre around exemptions: is the particular information
requested by a citizen exempt under the law or not? This can be a very sensitive and complex
issue and hence the body needs to have expertise in RTI law and cases. This is why the courts
are not suitable appeals bodies: normal judges will not have the requisite specialisation in RTI
law; moreover, the courts are often already over-burdened with cases, and going to court costs
money, takes time and is a daunting prospect for most citizens. A dedicated RTI appeals body is
needed, just dealing with RTI cases and able to correctly interpret the law and exemptions.
Thirdly, such a body – and the appeals procedure overall – should be easy and low cost, to
facilitate citizens who have grievances. In this regard, as a first stage, there should be an
internal appeals procedure within each public body – should citizens fail to get satisfaction
there, they can then take their appeals to the external body.
Fourthly, the external enforcement body needs to have sanction powers – basically, it needs to
have a ‘stick’ that it can apply to public bodies that fail to comply with the RTI law, or to
individual officers who refuse to provide requested information or otherwise obstruct its
release. The sanctions need to be severe enough to act as a deterrent for those considering non-
compliance with the law.
There are three types of enforcement mechanism being used in different countries: some use
the courts (e.g. South Africa); some use the Ombudsman; and some have an independent,
dedicated Information Commission. International experience points to the third of these – an
independent Information Commission – as the most effective.
Promotional Measures
RTI implementation does not happen by itself, just because a law is passed. It requires
considerable effort on the part of government, of all public bodies and even civil society which,
remember, has to submit RTI requests.
We will be discussing the responsibilities of public bodies in detail in Session III. But briefly,
they need to appoint and train public information officers to deal with RTI requests. They also
need to set up systems and procedures to deal with these. They need to improve the way their
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records are managed so that they can find information easily when people ask for it. They also
need to inform citizens about their rights under the RTI law, and the procedure for accessing
information.
If individual public bodies were each left to figure out RTI implementation on their own, this
would be both a wasteful process (e.g. with each developing their own training manuals) and
ineffective (some would be better at it than others). A much better approach would be for some
central entity within government to be responsible for raising public awareness of RTI, and
supporting public bodies to implement the law (e.g. through trainings). [This role could be
carried out by the enforcement body cited above.]
In short, RTI implementation involves time, effort and resources. In order to ensure that the
necessary steps are taken, provision needs to be made for these in the law. Laying such
promotional measures (training of officials, improved record management, etc) down in law
both serves as a guide for what needs to be done, and makes it mandatory to carry them out.
Overall, including promotional measures in RTI law greatly increases the effectiveness of RTI
implementation.
Activity 3: What happens when RTI principles are missing?
In this session we have discussed the main principles that need to be included in RTI laws in
order for them to be effective. In this activity, we will now take the reverse approach and look
at how the absence of these principles could enable officials to deny citizens’ RTI requests or
make it difficult for citizens to access information:
Missing Principle Impact on RTI Effectiveness (ability of

citizens to access information)
No time limit for responding to RTI requests Each public body sets its own time limits for
responding to RTI requests – so there is no
consistency across public bodies, creating
confusion and difficulty for citizens
Public bodies take excessive time to respond to
requests
Limited number of public bodies to which
RTI law applies
No/vague listing of public bodies to which
RTI law applies
No/vague listing of types of information
covered under the law
No designated official responsible for
handling RTI requests
No requirement for training of public officials
responsible for handling RTI requests
No defined procedure for how to submit RTI
requests
No appeals mechanism in case of denial of
information requests
No sanctions for officials who deny citizens
information
No requirement for improved record
management
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Missing Principle Impact on RTI Effectiveness (ability of

citizens to access information)
No/limited requirement for proactive
disclosure of information
RTI Legislation Scoring Framework and Ranking
As you can see, inclusion of RTI principles in RTI law is extremely important to ensure the
effectiveness of those laws.
As noted above, a law that includes all/most of the RTI principles will be a good law, and one
that is missing most of these will be weak. It is actually possible to measure the strength or
weakness of RTI laws, based on the extent to which they comply with RTI principles.
Two organizations - the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) and AccessInfo Europe (AIE) –
have developed a framework for scoring RTI laws, with a maximum possible score of 150.
Points are allocated as follows:
Category Max Points

1. Right of Access 6
2. Scope 30
3. Requesting Procedures 30
4. Exceptions and Refusals 30
5. Appeals 30
6. Sanctions and Protections 8
7. Promotional Measures 16
Total score 150
For each category, there is a detailed breakdown of provisions to look for in the law. For
example, the category ‘Requesting Procedures’ is scored as follows:
# Requesting Procedure Max. Points

1 Requesters are not required to provide reasons for their requests. 2
2 Requesters are only required to provide the details necessary for identifying and
delivering the information (i.e. some form of address for delivery). 2
3 There are clear and relatively simple procedures for making requests. Requests
may be submitted by any means of communication, with no requirement to use
official forms or to state that the information is being requested under the access
to information law. 2
4 Public officials are required provide assistance to help requesters formulate their
requests, or to contact and assist requesters where requests that have been made
are vague, unduly broad or otherwise need clarification. 2
5 Public officials are required to provide assistance to requesters who require it
because of special needs, for example because they are illiterate or disabled. 2
6 Requesters are provided with a receipt or acknowledgement upon lodging a
request within a reasonable timeframe, which should not exceed 5 working days 2
7 Clear and appropriate procedures are in place for situations where the authority
to which a request is directed does not have the requested information. This
includes an obligation to inform the requester that the information is not held and
to refer the requester to another institution or to transfer the request where the
public authority knows where the information is held. 2
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# Requesting Procedure Max. Points

8 Public authorities are required to comply with requesters’ preferences regarding
how they access information, subject only to clear and limited overrides (e.g. to
protect a record). 2
9 Public authorities are required to respond to requests as soon as possible. 2
10 There are clear and reasonable maximum timelines (20 working days or less) for
responding to requests, regardless of the manner of satisfying the request
(including through publication). 2
11 There are clear limits on timeline extensions (20 working days or less), including
a requirement that requesters be notified and provided with the reasons for the
extension. 2
12 It is free to file requests. 2
13 There are clear rules relating to access fees, which are set centrally, rather than
being determined by individual public authorities. These include a requirement
that fees be limited to the cost of reproducing and sending the information (so
that inspection of documents and electronic copies are free) and a certain initial
number of pages (at least 20) are provided for free. 2
14 There are fee waivers for impecunious requesters 2
15 There are no limitations on or charges for reuse of information received from
public bodies, except where a third party (which is not a public authority) holds a
legally-protected copyright over the information. 2
TOTAL 30
Based on the score a law gets it is ranked against others from across the world. Currently, there
are 95 countries with some form of national RTI law (the ranking does not include sub-national
laws). On the CLD-AIE scoring, Serbia with 135 points is the top ranking law followed in joint
second place by India and Slovenia with 130 points. Pakistan’s federal Freedom of Information
Ordinance 2002 scores just 66 points and is ranked equal 72nd in the world.
While the CLD-AIE ranking does not include sub-national laws, if the KP and Punjab RTI laws
were assessed using the scoring framework, the KP law would be in top position globally – and
the Punjab law would get over 123 points, also placing it among the top laws.
Note: It is important to stress that having a good law does not automatically mean strong RTI
implementation. India has a strong RTI law and implementation is very strong in the country.
But Serbia, which has a better law, is considered weak on implementation. Thus the CLD-AIE
scoring and ranking is simply a measure of the strength of legislation – not of implementation.
However, it stands to reason that having a strong law is an essential prerequisite for good RTI
implementation.
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 RTI is a fundamental human right, but it is still very important to have an RTI law that
spells out everyone’s responsibilities.
 Simply having an RTI law is not enough - in order to be effective, it must be a good law,
which means it must comply with key RTI principles.
 The key RTI principles which should be reflected in RTI legislation are: maximum
disclosure, proactive disclosure, defined and limited exemptions, defined procedures, an
appeals mechanism, and promotional measures.
 Two organizations (Centre for Law and Democracy and AccessInfo Europe) have
developed a framework to score RTI laws; the maximum possible score is 150. Based on
different countries’ scores they are ranked: Serbia’s RTI law currently ranks top in the
world.
 The Punjab Transparency and RTI Act scores 123 points, making it a strong law.
 RTI legislation should be seen as the first step in setting up a strong RTI regime – it has
to be followed by strong implementation.
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SESSION THREE: PUNJAB TRANSPARENCY AND RTI ACT
Session Overview
In this session we will look at the features of the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act and see how
it includes the RTI principles elaborated in the previous session: the scope of the law, proactive
disclosure requirements, exemptions, requesting procedures, the appeals mechanism
(enforcement body) and promotional measures.
By the end of the session you should be familiar with the provisions of the Punjab RTI law and
(based on the previous session) understand the purpose of these.
The Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act was passed by the Punjab Assembly in
December 2013. It is considered to be a strong law (scoring 123 points on the CLD-AIE
framework). Let us examine its provisions in detail.
Scope of Punjab RTI Law
Under the Punjab law any citizen of Pakistan can access information and any ‘legal person’, e.g.
corporation, NGO. The law does not allow non-citizens to request information.
In terms of public bodies, the law applies to:
Section 2 Definitions
(h) (i) a department, attached department, autonomous or semiautonomous body of the
Government, a company of the Government or a special institution;
(ii) a local government constituted under the Punjab Local Government Act 2013
(XVIII of 2013) or any other law for the time being in force;
(iii) Secretariat of Governor of the Punjab;
(iv) any court, tribunal, office, Board, Commission, Council, or other body substantially
financed by the Government;
(v) Provincial Assembly of the Punjab;
(vi) statutory body established under a provincial law; and
(vii) a non-government organization substantially financed by the Government or a
local government;
The term ‘information’ is defined very broadly:
Section 2 Definitions
(f) “information” means any information held by a public body and includes any memo,
book, design, map, contract, representation, pamphlet, brochure, order, notification,
document, plans, letter, report, accounts statement, project proposal, photograph, audio,
video, drawing, film, any instrument prepared through electronic process, machine-readable
documents and any other documentary material regardless of its physical form or
characteristics;
Consistent with the principle of maximum disclosure, the law does not require requestors to give a
reason for why they want information:
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Section 10 Application Procedure

(3) An applicant shall not be required to provide reasons for request for
information and shall only be required to provide an adequate description of the
information and the details necessary to provide the requisite information.
Proactive Disclosure
The Punjab law has a very extensive list of proactive disclosure requirements:
Section 4 Proactive Disclosure

Subject to the provisions of this Act, a public body shall proactively disclose-
(a) particulars of the public body, its functions and duties;
(b) powers and functions of its officers and employees;
(c) norms and criteria set by the public body for the discharge of its functions;
(d) Acts, rules, regulations, notifications, circulars and other legal instruments being
enforced, issued or used by the public body in the discharge of its functions;
(e) a statement of categories of information being held by the public body;
(f) a description of its decision-making processes and any opportunities for the public to
provide input into or be consulted about decisions;
(g) a directory of its officers and employees with their respective remuneration, perks and
privileges;
(h) budget of the public body including details of all proposed and actual expenditures;
(i) amount of subsidy and details of beneficiaries if the public body provides any subsidy;
(j) particulars of the recipients of concessions, permits or authorizations granted by the
public body;
(k) facilities available with the public body for obtaining information held by it;
(l) name, designation and other particulars of the public information officer of the public
body; and
(m) any other information that the Government may notify in the official Gazette.
Exemptions
You will recall from the previous session that a three-part test is applied to see if information is to be
exempted: a) does it relate to defined interests? b) would disclosure cause harm to those interests?
and c) is there a greater public interest in disclosure?
The Punjab RTI law is consistent with RTI principles in relation to exceptions, in that it makes
exempt anything that could harm defined interests:
Section 13 Exceptions
(1) A public information officer may refuse an application for access to information
where disclosure of the information shall or is likely to cause harm to–
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(a) national defence or security, public order or international relations of

Pakistan;
(b) a legitimate privacy interest, unless the person concerned has consented to
disclosure of the information;
(c) the protection of legally privileged information or of the rules relating to
breach of confidence;
(d) the legitimate commercial interests of a public body or a third party,
including information subject to third party intellectual property rights;
(e) the life, health or safety of any person;
(f) the prevention or detection of crime, the apprehension or prosecution of
offenders, or the administration of justice;
(g) the ability of the Government to manage the economy; or
(h) the effective formulation of or success of a policy either by its premature
disclosure or by restraining the free and frank provision of advice within the
Government.
As seen, the Punjab law applies both the first two parts of the exemptions three-part test. It also
includes the third test, the public interest over-ride:
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in subsection (1), if the Commission
determines that the public interest in such disclosure outweighs the harm that shall or is
likely to be caused by such disclosure, it may direct the public information officer to
provide the information.
Note that it is the Punjab Information Commission which is to decide on the public interest over-
ride, not the individual Public Information Officer.
A further provision in the Punjab RTI law which conforms to international best practice is that it
includes the principle of severability. This means that, if only part of a document/information is
exempted, the rest of the document/information can be disclosed:
(3) Where a part of a document is covered by an exception in subsection (1), any
information in the document which is not covered by an exception shall be disclosed if it
is reasonably severable from the rest of the document.
Finally, the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act takes precedence over other laws, meaning that they
can only elaborate the exceptions given in the RTI Act – not expand on these:
Section 24 Act to take precedence over other laws

(1) The provisions of this Act shall take precedence over the provisions of any other law.
(2) An exception mentioned in section 13 shall take precedence and any exception
or limitation in any other law on right to information may not be construed to extend
the scope of the exception in this Act, although such provision in other law may
elaborate on the exception mentioned in section 13.
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Requesting Procedures
The Punjab Transparency and RTI Act lays out in considerable detail the procedure for requesting
information:
Section 10 Application Procedure

(1) An applicant may make an application to a public information officer on an
information request form or on plain paper and the public information officer shall
acknowledge receipt of the application.
(2) A public body shall make easily available to the public the information request form
both in printed and electronic form.
(3) An applicant shall not be required to provide reasons for request for information
and shall only be required to provide an adequate description of the information and the
details necessary to provide the requisite information.
(4) Where an applicant is having difficulty making a request, including because he cannot
describe the information in sufficient detail or because he is disabled or illiterate, the
concerned public information officer shall provide reasonable assistance to the applicant.
(5) Where an applicant has indicated a preferred form of access, including a physical
copy, an electronic copy or an opportunity to inspect documents, the public body shall
provide access in that form unless doing so is likely to interfere with its operations or
harm the document and in that case the information shall be provided in such form as
may serve the purpose.
(6) The public body shall not charge any fee for making a request other than cost of
reproducing or sending the information in accordance with a centrally set schedule of
costs stipulated by the Commission.
(7) The public information officer shall respond to an application as soon as possible
and in any case within fourteen working days, provided that this may be extended by a
maximum of a further fourteen working days where this is necessary, including because
the request requires a search through a large number of records or consultation with a
third party or any other public body, but the public information officer shall provide the
information relating to life or liberty of a person within two working days of the receipt
of the application.
(8) Where the public information officer decides not to provide the information, he shall
intimate to the applicant the reasons for such decision along with a statement that the
applicant may file an internal review or a complaint against the refusal under this Act.
(9) The information from, or the copy of, any public record supplied to the applicant
under subsection (1) shall contain a certificate at the foot thereof that the information is
correct or the copy is a true copy of such public record, and such certificate shall be
dated, signed and stamped by the public information officer.
Note the following key points:
 No fee is made for an RTI request

 No reason has to be given
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 Applications can be made on plain paper or on designated forms

 The PIO has a duty to assist requesters who need help with their applications
 Applicants can specify what form they want to receive information in
 The PIO has to give a receipt for each RTI request submitted
 The PIO has to respond to the request within 14 working days (but can take an extra 14
days if needed)
 Where information relates to the life or liberty of a person, it has to be provided within
two working days
 If information cannot be given, the reason must be given in writing; where information
is provided, a signed certificate must be attached by the PIO stating it is correct.
The Punjab law also lays down the procedure if an RTI request is submitted to the wrong official
or the wrong public body:
Section 11 Transfer of Application

(1) Where an officer of a public body other than the concerned public information
officer receives an application for access to information, such officer shall immediately
transfer the application to the concerned public information officer under intimation to
the applicant and the public information officer shall process the application as if he had
received it under section 10.
(2) If the information or part of the information requested in an application is not
available with the public body or the office of the public body, the public information
officer shall, within seven days and under intimation to the applicant, transfer the
application to the public information officer to whom the application should have been
made for provision of the information or part of the information.
(3) If the public information officer does not know the public body or the office where
the requested information or part of the information may be available, he shall inform
the applicant that the requested information or part of the information is not available
with the public body.
(4) If an application is transferred to another public information officer under
subsection (2), the other public information officer shall process the application as if the
other public information officer received the application under section 10.
As seen, if some official other than the PIO receives an RTI request, they must pass it onto the PIO. If
the information relates to another public body, the PIO must pass it onto the correct one – they do
not give it back to the requester and tell them to do this. Only where the PIO does not know which
public body is relevant, do they return the RTI request to the applicant. [This will be discussed in
more detail in the session on ‘Handling Requests’.]
Section 13 of the Act elaborates on the procedure in case an information request is refused:
(4) Where the information is refused, the public information officer shall, within the
time-limit specified under section 10, inform the applicant specifying–
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(a) the reasons on account of which and the provision of this Act under which the
requested information is refused;
(b) procedure for internal review or complaint against the decision; and
(c) name and designation of the person who may provide full or limited access to
the exempted information.
Appeals Mechanism
As seen in the previous session, a good RTI law has an internal review (appeals) mechanism (within
the public body concerned) as well as an external appeals mechanism.
a) Internal Review
The Punjab RTI law provides for an internal review procedure:
Section 12 Internal Review

(1) If an applicant does not file a complaint with the Commission, he may request the
head of the public body for internal review of any decision of the public information
officer in relation to what the applicant regards as involving–
(a) a failure by the public information officer to comply with any provision of this
Act including failure to communicate decision within the specified time; or
(b) unreasonable behaviour by the public information officer in the exercise of any
discretion under the Act; or
(c) provision of incomplete, misleading or false information under the Act; or
(d) any other matter relating to requesting or obtaining access to information.
(2) An applicant shall, within sixty days from the date of communication of the decision
of the public information officer or failure of the public information officer to provide
information within the stipulated time, submit a request, in writing, under subsection
(1) and specify remedy which the applicant seeks against the decision of the public
information officer.
(3) The officer before whom an application for internal review is filed under this section
may exercise any of the powers of the public information officer under this Act and shall,
within fourteen days of the receipt of the application–
(a) confirm, modify or reverse the decision of the public information officer;
(b) notify the decision of internal review to the applicant including reasons for the
decision; and
(c) order departmental action against the public information officer if found
negligent in performance of duties under this Act.
Note that the requestor (complainant) has 60 days in which to file an internal review application.
The officer responsible (in charge of the internal review process) has 14 days in which to respond.
b) External Review
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We saw in the previous session that there are generally three types of external appeals mechanisms
for RTI: the courts, the Ombudsman and the Information Commission. The third of these is
considered the best, and the Punjab law takes this approach by setting up the Punjab Information
Commission.
Section 5 deals with the composition of the Commission. It is to comprise three members, chosen by
the Government, with one appointed as Chief Information Commissioner. Commissioners are to be
drawn from the following: High Court judges (or equivalent), senior civil servants (Grade 21), or
civil society persons with relevant experience. Commissioners serve for three-year terms:
Section 5 Punjab Information Commission

(1) The Government shall establish a Commission, to be called ‘Punjab Information
Commission’.
(2) The Commission shall consist of not more than three Information Commissioners to
be appointed from amongst the following:-
(a) a person who has been or is qualified to be a Judge of the High Court;
(b) a person who is or has been in the service of Pakistan in basic scale 21 or
equivalent; and
(c) a person from civil society having a degree based on sixteen years of education
from a recognized institution and experience of not less than fifteen years in the field
of mass communication, academic or right to information.
(3) The Government shall, on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed and until
so prescribed as are determined by the Government, appoint the Commissioners.
(4) The Government shall nominate one of the Commissioners as Chief Information
Commissioner who shall be the chief executive of the Commission.
(5) No person shall be appointed as Commissioner if he is more than sixty five years of
age on the date of appointment.
(6) A Commissioner shall hold office for a non-renewable term of three years.
(7) A Commissioner shall not hold any other public office or any other office of profit or
be connected with any political party and shall not engage himself in any business or
profession during the period he holds office of the Commissioner.
(8) Subject to subsections (9), (10) and (11), a Commissioner shall be liable to removal
on grounds of misconduct or physical or mental incapacity.
(9) Before removing a Commissioner, the Government shall communicate the charges to the
Commissioner and afford him reasonable opportunity to explain his position.
(10) If the Government is not satisfied with the defence offered, it may refer the case to
Provincial Assembly of the Punjab for an open enquiry by a Special Committee to be
constituted by the Provincial Assembly.
(11) If the Committee finds the Commissioner guilty of any of the charges mentioned in
subsection (8), the Government shall remove the Commissioner.
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(12) If Provincial Assembly of the Punjab is dissolved and the situation mentioned in
subsection (8) has arisen, the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly shall constitute a
special committee and such special committee may exercise the powers of special
committee of the Provincial Assembly until the election of the new Provincial Assembly.
The role and powers of the Commission in relation to RTI complaints/appeals is detailed in Section
6.
Section 6 Functions of the Commission

(1) The Commission may–
(a) conduct an inquiry, on its own accord or on a complaint, and may direct a public
body to disclose information to an applicant or in a proactive manner;
(b) determine the public interest in terms of section 13;
(c) resolve any inconsistencies in the application of the provisions of this Act or the
rules or regulations.
(2) The Commission shall decide a complaint within thirty days of its receipt or, for good
reasons to be recorded in writing, within sixty days.
(3) The Commission may exercise the powers of a civil court to–
(a) summon and enforce attendance of persons, compel them to give oral or written
evidence on oath and to produce documents or information;
(b) examine and inspect information;
(c) receive evidence on affidavits;
(d) requisition information from any office; and
(e) issue summons for witnesses or documents.
(4) While inquiring into a complaint, the Commission or any person authorized by the
Commission, may examine any information on spot.
Key points to note are that the Commission can take action on a complaint or of its own accord. It
has the powers of a civil court in terms of forcing people to attend and give evidence, getting
information from any office, and so on. The Commission has to decide on a complaint within 30
days: if there are good reasons it can take up to 60 days, but those reasons must be given in writing.
The Commission has the power to order a public body/PIO to disclose information. Note that it is
the Commission which decides if there is a public interest over-ride for exemptions.
In cases where the Commission finds that a PIO has not carried out their duties properly, it can
impose penalties in the form of fines of up to two days’ salary per day of delay in providing
information, or up to Rs. 50,000:
Section 15 Penalty on Public Information Officer - Where a public information officer

or any other person has, without any reasonable cause, refused to receive an
application, has not furnished information within time limits, or malafidely denied the
request or knowingly gave incorrect, incomplete or misleading information, the
Commission may, after providing sufficient opportunity of defense to the public
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information officer, direct the public information officer to pay fine not exceeding two
days salary for each day of delay or to pay fine which may extent to fifty thousand
rupees.
The Commission can also take action against others found guilty of offences such as destroying
information subject to an RTI request:
Section 16 Offence - In addition to any other action under any other law, any person
who destroys a record which at the time it was destroyed was the subject of an
application for access to information, internal review or complaint, or otherwise
obstructs access to information which is the subject of an application, internal review or
complaint, with the intention of preventing its disclosure under this Act, commits an
offence punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or
with fine which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees or with both.
The courts cannot take cognizance of any issues under the RTI Act unless specifically designated to
do so by the Information Commission:
Section 17 Cognizance for offence under this Act.– A court shall not take
cognizance of the offence punishable under section 16 of this Act except on a report in
writing of the facts constituting such offence made with the previous sanction of the
Commission or an officer authorized by the Commission.
Section 18. Bar of suits etc.– A court shall not entertain a suit, application or other
proceeding in respect of any decision made under this Act and the decision shall not be
called in question otherwise than by way of an internal review or a complaint under the
Act.
Promotional Measures
Under the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act, much of the promotional work in relation to RTI is to
be carried out by the Punjab Information Commission. Its functions are far more wide-ranging than
dealing with RTI complaints:
Section 6. Functions of the Commission

(5)The Commission shall facilitate the application of the provisions of this Act and may–
(a) issue directives to public bodies for preservation, management, publication,
publicity and access to information;
(b) prescribe the procedure for accessing information from a public body;
(c) advise and provide support to the Government to make necessary laws and
procedures for implementation of the right to information;
(d) provide technical and other support to the public bodies for effective
enforcement of right to information;
(e) conduct training of the public information officers;
(f) undertake mass awareness campaign to create awareness about the Act, rules
and regulations;
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(g) establish an information web-portal;

(h) compile a user hand book in Urdu and English, containing such information in
easily comprehensible form and manner, as many reasonably be required by an
applicant; and
(i) compile guidelines for use by the public information officers.
(6) The Commission shall prepare an annual report on the implementation of the provisions
of this Act during a financial year and submit it to the Government by 31 August and the
Government shall lay the report before Provincial Assembly of the Punjab.
(7) The annual report of the Commission shall, in particular, contain the following
information:
(a) status of right to information law, rules, regulations and procedures;
(b) progress on implementation of the freedom of information law, including district
and department-wise summaries of information requests showing current status of
each information request;
(c) hurdles being faced in the implementation of freedom of information law; and
(d) budget, expenses and other organizational matters.
Note that the Commission has the power to make rules and regulations re detailed implementation
of the Act, e.g. the application procedure, the schedule of fees.
It is also tasked with carrying out public awareness-raising, e.g. by compiling a user handbook on
Urdu and English for ordinary citizens, setting up a website, and carrying out a mass awareness
campaign.
In addition to facilitating citizens, the Commission is tasked with facilitating public bodies and PIOs,
e.g. through technical support for public bodies, and by development of guidelines for and training of
PIOs.
Finally, the Commission has a monitoring role – it must compile an annual report on RTI
implementation - aimed not just at seeing which public bodies are in compliance with the RTI Act
and which are not, but also towards advising the Government on how to improve implementation.
The role of the Commission in formulating rules for the Punjab RTI Act is elaborated in Sections 19-
20:
Section 19. Power to make rules.– (1) The Government, in consultation with the
Commission and by notification in the official Gazette, may make rules for carrying out
the purposes of this Act.
(2) The rules shall also provide elaboration of the following provisions of this Act:-
(a) procedure for proper maintenance, indexing and storage of information,
including details of information to be published in an electronic form;
(b) procedure for filing of request for information and a schedule of the costs for
providing the information;
(c) handling and internal review mechanisms;
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(d) information that shall be included in the annual report of each public body;
(e) procedure for publishing, displaying and obtaining the annual report;
(f) designation of public information officers, and if required, any other official
delegates, and their duties and responsibilities;
(g) procedure for removal of a Commissioner, including definition of misconduct;
(h) finances, budgeting and staffing related to the Commission and its secretariat;
(i) responsibilities of Commissioners, mechanism for taking decisions, quorum
requirements and procedures in case of non-availability of one or more
Commissioners;
(j) provisions regarding imposition of penalties or fines; and
(k) any fees that may be charged by a public body in carrying out the provisions of
this Act.
Section 20. Power to frame regulations.– Subject to this Act and the rules, the
Commission may, by notification, frame regulations to give effect to the provisions of the Act
and the rules.
Responsibilities of Public Bodies
The specific responsibilities of public bodies in relation to ensuring/facilitating implementation of

the RTI Act are elaborated in Sections 7-9:
Section 7. Designation of public information officers.– (1) A public body shall,

within sixty days of the commencement of this Act, designate and notify as many officers
as public information officers in all administrative units or offices under it, as may be
necessary.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a public information officer shall provide
information to an applicant, and shall perform such other functions as may be
prescribed to achieve the purpose of this Act.
(3) The public information officer may seek necessary assistance of any other officer of
the public body.
(4) Any officer whose assistance has been sought under subsection (3) shall render all
assistance to the public information officer seeking his assistance and for purposes of
any contravention of the provisions of this Act, such other officer shall be deemed as
public information officer.
Section 8. Maintenance and indexing of information.– (1) Subject to provisions

of this Act and the rules or regulations, a public body shall maintain information relating
to the body in an easily accessible form.
(2) A public body shall, within the time prescribed by the Commission for any special or
general categories of information, computerize or maintain in electronic form the
information to enable–
(a) easy retrieval of information; and
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(b) easy and authorized electronic access of information by an applicant.
Section 9. Annual report of public bodies.– A public body shall publish in

electronic form or otherwise an annual report of its activities under this Act during the
previous financial year by 31st August each year in such manner as may be prescribed
and make the report available for public inspection free of charge and for purchase at a
reasonable cost.
The main responsibilities of public bodies under the law can be summed up as follows:
 Designate public information officers – Public information officers are responsible for
assisting citizens to make RTI requests, and responding to these. All public bodies must
appoint public information officers within 60 days of the Act coming into effect. The law
calls for a public body to appoint as many information officers as there are
administrative units/offices within the public body, or as needed;
 Information request forms – Citizens can make RTI requests on plain paper, or on
information request forms provided by the public body. The public body must ensure
these forms are easily available to members of the public in both electronic and print
form (soft and hard copies).
 Maintain and index information – Each public body should maintain information relating
to it in an easily accessible form: this will greatly facilitate finding information in
response to RTI requests. The law also calls for them to computerize their
information/records, again to allow easy retrieval. [Note: the precise requirements and
timeline for computerization of records will be decided by the Punjab Information
Commission, see below.]
 Publish annual reports – Public bodies must publish annual reports by 31 August,
detailing their activities to implement the Act over the previous financial year.
 Proactive disclosure of information – Public bodies must proactively disclose a long list of
information (see above) relating to their functions and operations.
These are considerable responsibilities. RTI implementation by any public body requires
considerable planning and preparation. But there is guidance available.
Firstly, public bodies will be assisted in carrying out their assigned role by the Punjab
Information Commission. As seen, its functions include laying down the detailed regulations
and procedures for RTI applications and for record keeping, compiling guidelines for public
information officers, and preparing a user-friendly handbook on RTI for citizens.
Secondly, public bodies in Punjab can also learn from the experience of other countries in the
region and further afield. International experience points to a number of critical steps that
public bodies should take for effective RTI implementation:
 Designation of a senior officer/committee/unit to oversee RTI implementation – Each

public body should assign a senior official/committee to oversee RTI implementation
across the public body. The role of this entity will be coordination, monitoring and
enforcement, but also to provide technical and other support as needed. Having a senior
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level officer/entity responsible for RTI will signal the importance the public body
assigns to RTI implementation, and encourage compliance by other officials.
 Development of RTI systems and procedures, and action plan – RTI implementation
involves numerous steps and activities. By developing systems and procedures (‘SOPs’)
for each of these, the public body can ensure consistency in RTI implementation.
Preparation of an action plan will greatly help the public body prioritise activities (what
needs to be done in the short-term, medium-term and long-term) and agree
responsibilities and timelines for RTI implementation. An action plan will also help the
public body prepare a budget for RTI activities.
 Training of public information officers – Public information officers have a very
prominent role in RTI implementation, since they receive RTI requests and have to
respond to these. Training of information officers will be very important to enable them
to carry out their tasks effectively.
The above steps will greatly facilitate public bodies in fulfilling their obligations under the
Punjab Transparency and RTI Act.
____________________
You should by now be familiar with the provisions of the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act,
including the responsibilities it places on public bodies.
As you can see, the Act is largely consistent with the RTI principles elaborated in the previous
session, particularly in relation to scope, proactive disclosure, exemptions and procedures.
However, it is very important to stress that legislation is simply the first step – it has to be followed
by effective implementation. Without this, even the best law in the world will fail to deliver RTI in
practice.
Which aspects of the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act do you think will be easy to implement?
Which will be harder? – Why will they be hard: because of capacity constraints or because of
other sensitivities?
How could these difficulties be overcome? Can you think of measures that would facilitate
implementation of the Punjab RTI Act?
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 The Punjab Transparency and RTI Act is largely consistent with key RTI principles,
making it a strong law.
 The Punjab Act is wide-ranging in scope, covering a large number of public bodies and
types of information.
 It has a very extensive proactive disclosure requirement list, including the institutional
and organizational set-up of a public body, its budget, services provided, procurement,
any permits/concessions, and opportunities for citizen input.
 The Punjab Act has a clearly defined list of exemptions: information, disclosure of which
could cause harm to defined interests (e.g. national security) is exempted, but there is a
public interest over-ride and the principle of severability applies.
 The Punjab Act lays out in considerable detail the procedure for requesting information
and handling RTI requests; no justification is needed and there is no fee for submitting
an RTI request.
 The Punjab Act establishes an independent Punjab Information Commission tasked with
hearing RTI appeals, but also raising public awareness of RTI, supporting public bodies
to implement RTI and monitoring RTI implementation.
 Responsibilities of public bodies under the Act include: appointing and training Public
Information Officers, improving records management, proactive disclosure, public
awareness-raising and reporting on RTI implementation to the Information
Commission.
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SESSION FOUR: HANDLING RTI REQUESTS
Session Overview
This is the first session dealing specifically with your responsibilities as Public Information
Officers. In this session we look in detail at the procedure for submitting RTI requests, your role
in assisting citizens, and what you must do with the requests you receive: where you can get the
information requested, timelines for responding, the format for responding, and what to do if
you don’t have the information.
By the end of the session you should be familiar with the basic procedure for handling the RTI
requests that come to you.
Introduction
As a Public Information Officer you are the person citizens will come to in relation to anything
to do with right to information - for most people, you will be the first ‘port of call’ when it comes
to RTI. As such, it is extremely important that you have a good understanding of the law (which,
hopefully, the previous day’s sessions have provided!) and of your specific responsibilities.
The bulk of your work in relation to RTI will be to respond to RTI requests by citizens. This
session is divided into three parts covering:
 RTI request procedure

 Handling requests (how to get information)
 Responding to requests (writing back to citizens)
A. REQUEST PROCEDURE
You will receive RTI requests through different mechanisms. Some will be submitted in person
by citizens. Others will be sent to you in the post, or electronically (e-mailed to you), or faxed to
you. Some requests will simply be narrated to you orally by people who cannot write because of
disability, illiteracy or other difficulty (see below).
In addition, some requests will be forwarded to you by other officials in your

department/organization – these will generally be requests that people have submitted to the
wrong officials by mistake/because they did not know that RTI requests should be submitted to
PIOs. Finally, some requests will be transferred to you by PIOs from other public bodies – again,
these will generally be requests that have been submitted to the wrong
department/organization by mistake.
Irrespective of the mechanism by which an RTI request is submitted to you, the basic procedure
for handling these is the same.
Check list for PIOs:
As PIO, you need to check that an RTI request has been submitted properly and contains all the
necessary details. The following checklist will help you:
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 Eligibility of requester – is the person submitting an RTI request eligible to do so?

Remember that under the Punjab RTI Act all citizens of Pakistan (including non-
Punjabis) can access information, so too all ‘legal persons’, e.g. CSOs, NGOs, corporations.
 Request form – your department/organization will have an RTI request form that
people can fill in when requesting information. However, the law also states that RTI
requests can be submitted on plain paper. Hence you must accept both requests filled
out on ‘official’ forms and those on plain paper.
 Sufficient information provided – has the requestor provided sufficient details in the RTI
request to enable you to find the information and give it to them? The request must
contain: name and address/contact details of requester, details of the information they
are seeking, name of the public body. [See section below on ‘Wording requests’.] Note
that the requester does not have to specify the exact title or reference number of the
document they want; they simply have to provide sufficient details so that the relevant
document(s) can be identified.
 Form in which information to be provided - In the request form, requestors can also
state the form in which they would like the information to be provided to them. For
example, they could ask for a photocopy of documents, or the chance to inspect
documents, or an electronic copy to be sent to them, or a CD, or even transcripts of a
meeting/video, and so on. Note that where no preference is given, the ‘default’ approach
will be to provide photocopies of documents.
 Fee – there is no fee for simple submission of RTI requests. Hence citizens should not be
paying any money with their RTI requests. [However, you should explain to requesters
that, should some costs be incurred in providing the information (e.g. photocopying of
documents) they will be charged for that at that stage. You should also explain the
schedule of such charges (this will have been set by the Information Commission).]
 Justification – requesters do not have to give a reason, explanation or justification for
why they are seeking information.
 Urgent requests – the Punjab RTI Act has a provision whereby RTI requests that relate
to the life or liberty of a person must be responded to on an urgent basis within two
working days. Should the RTI request form state that someone’s life/liberty is at stake
(giving sufficient details as to why this is the case), you must treat such requests
urgently.
Assistance to Citizens in Submitting Requests
Your role as Public Information Officers is not simply to receive RTI requests from citizens, but
also to help those who need assistance in preparing their requests. For example, citizens who
are illiterate will not be able to submit written requests. You should ask them to describe the
information they want, and complete a request form for them accordingly. Similarly, citizens
who have some physical disability (e.g. they are blind) could face difficulty.
You must also assist those who are able to write, but find it difficult to word their requests. You
could show them sample requests so they have an idea of what details they need to include and
what wording to use. Other citizens might have a draft request, which they could ask you to
review and correct as needed.
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In sum, you are not simply a functionary of the public body but – under the law – your role is
also to act as a facilitator for citizens. This is not just in relation to filling out RTI requests, but
to all aspects of the RTI law.
Wording of Requests
The wording of an RTI request is an important factor in determining how easy or difficult it is
for you as PIO, or for other officials in your department/organization to find the information
requested. When guiding people on filling out RTI requests, you should emphasise the following
points:
Clarity - If it is clearly worded, and precisely describes the information sought, it will be easier
for you to find it, than if the wording is long-winded and lacks clarity. When you receive an RTI
request you should review it to check that you understand exactly what information is being
sought. If you cannot understand, you should ask the requester to explain this more clearly. If
they find it difficult to put this in writing, ask them to explain to you orally so you can prepare
the request accordingly.
Subjective Information - A related ‘problem’ that could arise is that people don’t ask for facts –
objective information – but rather seek information of a subjective nature. ‘Subjective’ means
there is a strong element of personal opinion or perception or interpretation involved: which in
turn means that one person’s answer could be completely different from another’s. You should
advise requesters to stick to objective questions, for which the answers will be clear-cut. For
example, you could get an RTI request: ‘Why is x department spending so much on staff
salaries?’ You should encourage requesters to rephrase this in more objective terms: ‘How
much does x department spend on staff salaries? How many staff is there in the department?’
You could add that, once citizens are in possession of the facts, they will be able to draw their
own conclusions.
‘Over-packed’ requests - A further common issue that can arise with RTI requests is that citizens
submit multiple requests – relating to very different types of information – in the same request
form (i.e. it is ‘over-packed’). There is no charge for submitting an RTI request, and hence there
is no cost saving in submitting a single request as opposed to multiple requests. You should
explain this to requesters, and also tell them that it will be much easier to find information if
they submit separate requests for each different piece of information they want.
Issuance of Receipt
The final stage of the request procedure is issuance of a receipt to the requester. Your
department/organization will have a protocol for this, but generally the receipt should have the
following:
 a reference number
 name and address of the requester
 the date the request was submitted
 the name, details and signature of the recipient (i.e. yourself)
 a brief summary description of the information sought.
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The main purpose of issuing the receipt is so that citizens have proof that they submitted an RTI
request, and can produce this should any issues arise later (e.g. delay in responding to their
request). However, entry of the same details into a tracking system for RTI requests has many
additional benefits: it supports monitoring of RTI requests received by your department, it
facilitates reporting to the Punjab Information Commission (an annual requirement under the
law), and it helps identify problem areas and improve RTI procedures.
For RTI requests that are submitted in person, the receipt can be issued there and then. For RTI
requests that are submitted by post, the receipt should be issued as soon as possible, and not
later than three days after submission of the request. For RTI requests submitted electronically
the same principle applies: the receipt should be issued asap and not later than within three
days.
Examples of requests
B. HANDLING REQUESTS
Once you have received an RTI request and issued a receipt for it, you need to see if you can find
and provide the information sought.
Proactive Disclosure and Exemption ‘Filters’
There are two immediate questions – or ‘filters’ - that you need to apply:
a) Is the information requested already available to the public? – Your department will be
releasing a lot of information proactively on its website. If the answer is ‘yes’ you simply
have to provide the relevant website address (URL) to the requestor. (See Section C
below on ‘Responding to Requests’).
b) Does the requested information fall within the exemptions listed in the Punjab
Transparency and RTI Act? – If the answer is ‘yes’ you must write back to the requester
and explain this (see Section C below). It could well be the case that you are not sure if
the information is exempt or not. In such instances, you should seek guidance from
other relevant officials in your department, or from your seniors.
If neither of the above is applicable, i.e. the requested information is not already available to the
public through proactive disclosure, and it is not exempted under the RTI Act, you can then
proceed with finding it.
Transfer of Requests to Other Public Bodies
A third ‘filter’ is if the information requested actually relates to your department/organization.
It could be the case that the information requested does not relate to or is not to be found in
your own department/organization, but with another public body.
If you know which is the correct public body to provide the requested information, you must
transfer the RTI request to the Public Information Officer of that public body. You must do this
within seven working days of receiving the request. You must also inform the requester that
you have transferred their request, and tell them where to.
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If the information being sought does not relate to your department, but you do not know which
is the appropriate public body to provide it, you should inform the requestor of this.
Finding Information in Your Public Body
OK, so you’ve applied the three filters – proactive disclosure, exemptions and relevance to your
department/organization. Now you’re ready to find the information.
With some requests, you will have ready access to the information sought and be able to find
that yourself.
However, with many requests, you will need to seek assistance from other officials in your
department/organization in finding the information. In this regard, it is important to stress two
points:
a) Other officials are obliged under the Punjab RTI Act to assist you. This is not something
they do as a favour or if they have the time – it is mandatory on them, and they must
provide you the information requested.
b) You have to respond to the RTI request, i.e. write back to the requestor, within fourteen
working days of receiving the RTI request. Hence, when asking other officials in your
department/organization to provide information, you must stress the timeline and the
need for a quick response.
The ease with which you/your colleagues are able to retrieve information/records will depend
to a large extent on the records management system of your department/organization. If there
is a fully automated records management system – with everything available on the click of a
few buttons – then, of course, retrieval will be easy. But if the relevant records are not
electronically stored but in physical form, finding it could well entail searching through piles
and piles of paper files. This could be a very time-consuming process. In such circumstances,
the law allows an additional 14 days (on top of the normal 14 working days) to respond to RTI
requests.
A further issue in relation to finding information could be that your department/organization

has the relevant information, but this needs to be compiled or produced from different records
held by your department. In other words, the information is not in ‘ready to go’ form, but with
reasonable effort, could be generated. The RTI request cannot be rejected on these grounds, but
again this could justify taking extra time to respond.
Note that whenever you need extra time to respond to an RTI request, you must inform the
requester of this and the reason why additional time is needed, e.g. because the documents are
hard to find.
C. RESPONDING TO REQUESTS
So far in this session we’ve looked at the RTI request procedure, and how PIOs can go about
finding the requested information. We also saw that in some cases, information will already be
available to the public, or it could be exempt from disclosure under the RTI Act, or it could be
with another public body.
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Now the time has come for you to respond to the requester. Depending on whether or not you
are able to provide the information, and if the latter, why not, your responses will be different.
Timelines to Respond
Before looking at these, however, note the following important point: under the Punjab
Transparency and RTI Act you must respond to RTI requests within 14 working days. This is
the basic timeframe, but there are some variations on this:
Firstly, as we saw earlier, there could be justifiable grounds to extend the response time by a
further 14 days, e.g. if records are difficult to find, or if the requested information needs to be
collated from different documents, or if providing the information entails consultations with a
third party. Where an extension is needed, you must write to the requester and inform them of
the delay as well as the reason for it.
Secondly, if the requested information relates to another public body, you must transfer the
request to the appropriate public body within seven working days of receiving the request, and
you must inform the requester of this. [The PIO of the public body to which the RTI request has
been transferred will have the full 14 days to respond.] If you don’t know which is the
appropriate public body, you must still write back and inform the requester of this within the
same seven working days.
Thirdly, if the requested information is already proactively disclosed by your department, you
must inform the requester of where the information can be found within five working days of
receiving the RTI request.
Finally, if an RTI request relates to the life or liberty of a person it must be treated on an urgent
basis and responded to within two working days.
_______________
Now let us see how you would respond in different scenarios:
Requested Information is being provided
If you are able to provide the information requested, you need to consider the following:
a) Format in which information to be provided – As we saw earlier, in their RTI request, citizens
can give a preference for the form in which they would like information provided to them, e.g.
they want to inspect original documents, they want electronic copies, they want it on a CD, and
so on. As far as possible, you should try to provide information in the form in which it has been
requested – as long as this does not interfere with the functioning of the department, or harm
the document. Should it not be possible to do so, you should explain why and provide it in the
form closest to that. Where no preference has been given, the ‘default’ action should be to
provide a photocopy of the requested documents.
b) Fee – Depending on which form the information is to be provided in, there could be a fee
charged. The fee is designed simply to cover the costs incurred by your
department/organization in providing the information. Thus, for sending an electronic copy by
e-mail, no cost would be incurred and hence no fee charged. Similarly, for allowing physical
inspection of documents within the premises of your department, no cost is incurred by your
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department and hence no fee is charged. Costs could be incurred mainly for photocopying and
postage, or for CDs. The Punjab Information Commission will have set a schedule for such fees.
You need to write to the requester and tell them of the fee they will have to pay. Ideally, your
department/organization will have set up mechanisms to facilitate payment of these, e.g.
through electronic transfer, in cash, by cheque, by bank card (Debit card, etc).
c) Severed information – The next session looks at exemptions in detail. It could be the case that
only part of a requested document is exempt under the RTI Act, and the rest can be disclosed. In
such cases, under the principle of severability included in the Punjab RTI Act, the exempted
information should be removed and the rest of the document provided. Please note in this
regard that, where information has been removed (e.g. blacked out of a physical copy, deleted
from an electronic copy) this should clearly be apparent (i.e. that information has been
removed). You also need to explain why some information is ‘severed’, i.e. the exemption under
which it falls.
d) Certification of authenticity – Along with providing the requested information, you must
provide a stamped, dated and signed certificate attesting to the authenticity of the information
being provided.
Requested Information already Disclosed
The Punjab Transparency and RTI Act has a long list of proactive disclosure requirements, i.e.
information that public bodies must release even without RTI requests being submitted for it.
Should you receive an RTI request relating to information that is already disclosed, you need to
respond by informing the requester of the website link where the information is available, or –
in cases of physical documents – where they can find these.
Requested Information Exempted under Punjab RTI Act
As already explained, the next session looks at exemptions. Should the information requested
be exempt under the RTI Act, you need to respond to the requester by telling them this
(including which particular exemption it falls under).
In cases where only part of the information is exempted, the rest can be provided (under the
principle of severability of exempted information) – but it needs to be made apparent where
sections have been removed and, again, the reason for not providing that information (i.e.
exempt under the Punjab RTI Act) needs to be explained.
Finally, in all cases where an information request is being refused, you need to also inform
requesters that they can appeal the decision through an internal review (within your own
department/organization) or they can file a complaint with the Punjab Information
Commission. Basic contact details for both of these should be provided.
Requested Information with another Public Body
Should the requested information relate to a different public body, and you know which one this
is and have transferred the RTI request to the PIO of that public body, you will write to the
requester and tell them what you have done. You will obviously need to include the details of
the public body and PIO to which you transferred the RTI request.
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Should the requested information relate to a different public body but you don’t know which
one, you must respond to the requester by telling them that the requested information is not
with your department/organization; they should try to find the information elsewhere. Please
make clear in your response that you do not know what the appropriate public body would be.
Requested Information cannot be provided for some other reason
In addition to exemptions, there could be other reasons why you are not able to provide
requested information, e.g. despite trying, you cannot trace the requested documents, or these
have been destroyed/damaged/lost. In such cases you need to respond to the requester that
you cannot provide the information and give the reason why not.
Again, you should also inform them that they have the right to appeal this decision, either
through an internal review or through the Punjab Information Commission.
Flow diagram to be added showing RTI request handling procedure and possible different
outcomes
____________
If you follow these guidelines and deal with RTI requests in a systematic manner with the
following steps:
 first checking to see the request has been submitted correctly,

 issuing a receipt,
 considering whether the requested information is already being proactively disclosed, is
exempted, or relates to a different public body,
 if none of the above apply, finding the requested information,
 responding back to the requester accordingly.
.....you should not face any difficulties.
Also note that your department/organization should have developed its own SOPs for dealing
with RTI requests – these will be along the lines of the guidelines provided in this manual. As
long as you follow the set procedure, you should be fine.
Activity 4: Request Scenarios
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 Your main task as PIO will be to handle RTI requests. When you receive an RTI request
you should check it has the requester’s details, the name of the public body, sufficient
detail to enable the requested information to be found, the format in which this is to be
provided, and if it is an urgent request;
 You have a duty under the Punjab RTI Act to assist those needing help to prepare RTI
requests;
 Upon submission of an RTI request, you should issue a receipt for this to the requester,
and register the request in your department’s RTI tracking system;
 You should apply three ‘filters’ to all RTI requests: is the information requested already
being proactively disclosed? Is it exempted under the Punjab RTI Act? Does it relate to
a different public body?
 If it relates to a different public body and you know which one, you must transfer it to
the appropriate PIO and inform the requester; if you don’t know which one, you should
also inform the requester of this;
 If an RTI request has cleared the three filters, you must try and find the information
including, if needed, directing other officials in your department to provide it – under
the law it is mandatory for them to help you;
 When responding to requesters with the information they wanted, you must provide a
signed, stamped and dated certificate of authenticity. When unable to provide
information, you must explain the reason and give details of the appeals procedure;
 The basic timeline for responding to RTI requests is 14 working days; an additional 14
days can be taken if needed, but the requester must be informed of this; urgent requests
relating to life/liberty of a person must be responded to within two working days.
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DAY TWO
SESSION FIVE: EXEMPTIONS
Session Overview
This session looks at exemptions to information disclosure. It explains the different exemptions
under the law and the rationale behind these. You will also learn in detail about the three-part
test to apply to information to see it is exempt, and if the exemption can be set aside. Lots of
examples are given to help you understand.
By the end of the session you should have a good idea of how to judge if requested information
is exempted or not under the Punjab RTI Act, and thus of whether or not you can disclose it.
Interests to be Protected
The underlying principle of RTI is that information belongs to the people, to citizens, and as
such they are entitled to access it. However, there will always be some information which
cannot be disclosed to the public, e.g. for security reasons.
A good RTI law spells out the types of information that are exempt from disclosure, and the
Punjab RTI Act does just that. It gives a list of interests which must be protected: any
information which, if disclosed, would harm those interests, is exempted. Each of these is
discussed below:
a) National defence or security, public order or international relations of Pakistan
National security is an obvious interest that has to be protected. Examples of information which
would be exempt in this regard are: details of military installations, plans to respond to an
attack from another country, weapons research, security arrangements. Disclosure of such
information would be useful to the country’s enemies, e.g. facilitating them to attack Pakistan.
Pakistan’s international relations could be harmed, for example, if details of sensitive talks or
negotiations were to be disclosed.
b) a legitimate privacy interest, unless the person concerned has consented to disclosure of the
information
Legitimate privacy interests would be, for example, a person’s medical history, their bank
statements and details of spending, personal files (e.g. mortgage application, tax returns). There
could be situations in which some such information would have to be disclosed, e.g. corruption
investigation, but as a norm such information is private and people’s privacy should be
respected.
c) the protection of legally privileged information or of the rules relating to breach of

confidence
Discussions between a client and his/her lawyer are a good example of legally privileged
information. The freedom with which a person talks to their lawyer will clearly be affected if
there is a risk that those discussions could later be shared with others. This is why such
information cannot be disclosed by law, and the RTI Act upholds that principle.
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d) the legitimate commercial interests of a public body or a third party, including information
subject to third party intellectual property rights
Examples of information that would be exempt here are new products that a company is
developing (new lines of research it is pursuing), its marketing plans, its plans for
expansion/merger/takeover of other companies. ‘Intellectual property rights’ would apply to
books, videos, electronic products, other inventions, patents for technology, and so on, that have
been developed by a company. Release of such information into the public domain would
obviously harm the commercial interests of the companies involved, and hence the exemption.
e) the life, health or safety of any person
One example in this regard could be the whereabouts of a person who has been targeted by
terrorist organizations or criminal elements, and has been moved to a secure location by the
authorities. Release of that information would obviously place that person at great risk.
Another example would be releasing the names of security personnel involved in tracking and
capturing terrorists – they and their families would be at risk if that information were disclosed.
f) the prevention or detection of crime, the apprehension or prosecution of offenders, or the

administration of justice
An example of the kind of information which needs to be kept out of the public domain in this
regard would be the lines of enquiry that are being pursued by the police in a criminal
investigation, or details of the evidence they have gathered, or arrests that they are planning.
Release of such information would help criminals/terrorists evade capture and prosecution.
g) the ability of the Government to manage the economy
While economic policy is generally something that very much belongs in the public domain,
release or premature release of some kinds of economic information could have serious
consequences. For example, if the government was planning to raise or reduce interest rates,
untimely release of its plans could trigger negative consequences in the stock market, or the
banking sector.
h) the effective formulation of or success of a policy either by its premature disclosure or by

restraining the free and frank provision of advice within the Government
Civil servants and others need to have the confidence to give frank policy advice to government,
so that ministers can make informed policy decisions. Similarly, the government needs the
space to consider different policy options – including sensitive or difficult ones – calmly and
rationally. It could be the case, for example, that a ministry is considering a controversial plan
and wants to get feedback on the implications, following which it could well decide to shelve the
plan. Public disclosure of such advice and such ideas could greatly constrain the government’s
‘space’ to consider different options, and hence is exempted under the RTI Act.
These are the interests that have been protected under the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act.
Disclosure of any information that could harm those interests is exempted under the law.
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Three-Part Test: Harm Test and Public Interest Over-ride
Harm Test
In relation to the provisions for exemptions in the Punjab RTI Act, it is important to stress two
related points:
a) The exemption applies to interests rather than particular types of information. Thus, for
example, it is not all documents relating to the Ministry of Defence that are exempt, but
rather any information that could harm national security or public order.
b) Even with the interests listed above, not all information related to them has been
exempted – only information that could harm those interests. Thus, continuing the
example cited above, it is not anything related to national security that is exempt, but
disclosure of anything that could harm national security.
What this means is there are no blanket exemptions on certain types of information: each RTI
request has to be considered individually, and the assessment made as to whether disclosure of
that information would cause harm to any of the interests listed in the Punjab RTI Act.
Note that it is up to the government to demonstrate that any such disclosure would, with a fair
degree of certainty, cause harm to defined interests. It is always the responsibility of the
government to prove that there will be substantial harm, not for the person requesting the
information to prove that there will not be.
Public Interest Over-ride
Even where disclosure causes harm to a defined interest, it could be the case that there is a
greater public interest in disclosure of information, i.e. the harm caused is outweighed by the
benefits to the general public. In such cases, the exemption is set aside and the information is
released. This is called the public interest over-ride for exemptions (see examples below).
It is important to stress that ‘public interest’ does not refer to whether or not the public are
interested in (keen to know about) the information. [Public demand alone would not constitute
a reason to set aside an exemption under the RTI Act and disclose information.] Rather, it refers
to some benefit or good being done for the public by disclosing the information. Precisely what
that benefit is will vary from one case and situation to another, but general examples of ‘public
interest’ include:
 Detecting or exposing crime or a serious misdemeanour;

 Protecting public health or safety;
 Preventing the public from being misled by some statement or action by an individual or
organisation;
 Exposing misuse of public funds or other forms of corruption by public bodies;
 Revealing potential conflicts of interest by those in positions of power and influence;
 Exposing corporate greed;
 Exposing hypocritical behaviour by those holding high office.
______________
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The above can be summed up in the three-part test for exemptions. We have already talked
about this in previous sessions. You will recall that the test comprises the following three
questions:
a) Is the information related to one of the interests listed in the exemptions section of the
Punjab RTI Act?
b) Would disclosure of that information harm that interest?
c) Does the public interest in disclosure outweigh the harm caused by disclosure?
If you apply the three-part test to any RTI request you receive, you should be able to tell
whether or not the information can be disclosed.
Principle of Severability
One further point needs to be made in the context of exemptions: if only part of a document,
report, etc. has information that is exempted from disclosure, but the rest of the document is not
exempt, that information can be released. This is the principle of severability, whereby exempt
information can be removed and the rest disclosed.
However, it is important that people be made aware that some information has been removed
because it is exempt. This can be made apparent by blacking out pages/lines from a hard copy,
or making clear in a soft copy where deletions have been made.
Examples of Three-Part Test for Exemptions8
The ‘case studies’ below show the three-part test for exemptions being applied to different
scenarios. Studying these will help you to understand how the test works in practice.
Example 1: Ministry of Defence
You are an information officer in the Ministry of Defence. You receive a request for information
about the policy and practice of the Ministry on the procurement of boots for the army. The
requester also asks about the quality of boots procured. Do you provide the requested
information?
To decide whether this information can be disclosed under the law, you need to apply the three-
part test:
1. Does this request relate to one of the defined interests listed in the exemptions sections
of the RTI Act?
The RTI Act contains a list of interests which must be protected, and any information -
disclosure of which would harm those interests - is exempted under the law. ‘National security’,
to which this requested information relates, is one of the interests listed in the Punjab RTI Act.
2. Would the disclosure of this information cause substantial harm to that interest?
In this example, clearly not: the information does relate to national security, but making it
public would not harm defence and security. The worst would be that a potential enemy might
8 Examples are based on those used in Article 19’s FOI: Training Manual for Public Officials.
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learn that the infantry have sore feet because of the poor quality of boots they are wearing – not
a major threat to national security. Hence you would decide the information can be disclosed.
But let us suppose that the request for information was not about boots but about rifles. And let us
suppose that the information would reveal that a large number of the rifles used by the infantry
were often defective – they overheated and jammed when fired repeatedly.
Would this change your answer? Would you say:
a) This information could be valuable to an enemy – it is very important that it should not
be revealed, because it would harm national security; or,
b) National security would best be served by exposing the defective rifles – then there
would be public pressure to replace them with ones that worked. And the publicity
would help to make sure that this did not happen again in future.
The appropriate answer may depend on circumstances. For example, if the country is under
immediate threat of attack (or already at war), such information might be deemed more
sensitive than in a time of stable peace.
Let us suppose, in this case, that it was decided that it would do substantial harm to national
security to reveal information about the malfunctioning rifles.
3. Is there anyway a public interest in disclosing the information?
Is that the end of the story? No – there is still the possibility of overriding this conclusion if it
could be maintained that this was still in the public interest. In this example, it could be argued
that, even though an enemy would benefit from learning about the malfunctioning rifles (a harm
to national security), there are various other reasons why it would be in the public interest for
the information to be disclosed. These reasons could include:
 Generating public pressure to have the rifles replaced;

 Exposing weaknesses in the procurement system that led to the army buying defective
weapons;
 Holding incompetent or corrupt officials to account.
Hence, in this case, the final decision could be to authorise disclosure of the information.
Example 2: State-Owned Company
You are the PIO of a state-owned manufacturing company. The research and development division
of the company has developed a revolutionary new production technique. This technique is well in
advance of anything developed by the company’s international competitors. It will dramatically
reduce the number of workers required. A request for information about the process has been
lodged by an environmental group, which is concerned about the danger of liquid waste from the
new technique seeping into water courses. Do you provide the requested information?
Let us apply the same three-part test:
1. Does this request relate to a defined interest under the Punjab RTI Act?
Yes, clearly it does. The information requested is a commercial secret.
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2. Would the disclosure of this information do substantial harm to that interest?
Of course, it is difficult to answer this question without knowing exactly what information
would be revealed. But if this technique is so far ahead of the company’s competitors, it seems
as though revealing it may sacrifice the commercial advantage. So yes, there could be
substantial harm.
3. Is there anyway a public interest in disclosing the information?
Once again it seems that there could well be a public interest in the information, even though it
would do substantial harm to a business secret. There are two possible grounds for concluding
that there is a public interest:
a) The first is the reason the environmental group sought the information – the potentially
harmful impact of waste disposal, which should be open to public scrutiny.
b) The other reason for public interest would be the impact of the new technique on
employment. It is not automatically a positive development for a state-owned company
to cut jobs. This too is an issue that should be open to public scrutiny.
Hence, in this case too, you could decide to disclose the information.
Activity 5: Exempt or disclose?
Look at the following RTI requests, and decide whether or not you can disclose the requested
information. Apply the three-part test to determine this.
a) You are a PIO in the Department of Agriculture. You receive an RTI request asking for details
of research being conducted under the department into genetically modified crops. The
research is in an experimental stage.
Points to consider:
 GM crops are a very sensitive issue, and one that many people have concerns about – as
such there is a strong public interest in disclosing any plans in relation to GM crops;
 The research is at an early stage, and ‘premature’ disclosure of information about this
could trigger a backlash (notably from ‘traditional’ farmers) and scupper the research;
 Successful development of GM crops could lead to substantially increased food
production in Punjab.
b) You are a PIO in the Punjab High Court. You have been asked to provide information about
the shareholdings and other sources of income of a judge, currently overseeing an inquiry into
the award of a government contract to a private firm. There is concern that the judge or his
close relatives could have shares in the company.
Points to consider:
 Under normal circumstances, such information would be regarded as ‘private’

(personal) – where someone invests their money is their business and no one else’s;
 In this case, there is a potential conflict of interest between the judge heading an inquiry
into potentially criminal behaviour by a firm, and his holding shares in that firm;
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 Disclosure of the requested information could help ensure there is no bias towards the
company in the inquiry on the part of the judge.
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 The Punjab RTI Act defines a number of interests that must be protected, and disclosure
of information which could harm those interests is exempted;
 The interests listed in the Act are: national security; commercial interests; legitimate
privacy interests; legally privileged information; the ability of the government to
manage the economy; the ability of the government to make decisions; law enforcement;
and the life, safety or health of any person.
 Not all information related to the above interests is exempted – only information,
disclosure of which could harm these interests;
 If the public interest in disclosure of information outweighs the harm caused, the
information is to be released;
 The three-part test for determining if information is exempt from disclosure is as
follows: i) does the information relate to any of the interests listed in the RTI Act? ii)
would disclosure of the information cause substantial harm to those interests? iii) If yes,
is there a greater public interest in disclosure of the information?
 If only part of a document, etc is exempted under the law, the rest can be disclosed but it
must be made clear where information has been removed.
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SESSION SIX: COMPLAINTS
Session Overview
This session looks at what happens when requesters are not happy with the response to their
RTI requests (or have some other complaint). The law provides for an internal review
procedure, and an external complaints mechanism through the Punjab Information
Commission. In this session you will learn about the procedures for both, as well as the
penalties that the Information Commission can impose. The activity at the end of the session is
a real life appeals case for you to decide on.
By the end of the session you should have a good understanding of the complaints process and
what it entails.
Introduction
There will be cases where requesters are not happy with the response to their RTI request, or
did not get a response, or they are unhappy with the way they were treated, or they have some
other complaint. The Punjab Transparency and RTI Act has elaborate provisions for what to do
in such a situation. There is an internal review procedure, which takes place within the public
body concerned, and an external complaints redress mechanism through the Punjab
Information Commission. The first is a quick way to try and resolve issues, while the second
involves an entity that is completely independent of the public body concerned. Both offer
different advantages and both are important.
Internal Review Procedure
In Session 3 we looked at the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act in detail and saw the provisions
for internal review in Section 12. To recap, these are the grounds on which someone can ask for
an internal review in relation to an RTI request:
Section 12 (1)
(a) a failure by the public information officer to comply with any provision of this Act
including failure to communicate decision within the specified time; or
(b) unreasonable behaviour by the public information officer in the exercise of any
discretion under the Act; or
(c) provision of incomplete, misleading or false information under the Act; or
(d) any other matter relating to requesting or obtaining access to information.
Basically, this means that people can complain if there is a delay in providing the information
they requested or responding to their request, or if they don’t get a response, or if their request
is denied, or if the information provided is incomplete/wrong, or they have some issue with the
behaviour of the PIO.
Requests for internal review must be made within 60 days of receiving an RTI request response,
or (where no response is received) within 60 days of the time allowed to PIOs to respond having
expired. Note that, as well as listing their complaint, applicants can also specify the action (or
remedy) they are seeking against the decision of the public information officer, e.g. they want
the requested information to be provided, they want the PIO to be punished.
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Each public body should have a system in place to deal with such RTI related complaints, and a
designated senior official with responsibility for this. All complaints (internal review requests)
are submitted to the responsible official. S/he has 14 days in which to respond to complainants.
They must review the request and the PIO’s response/actions, and reach one of the following
decisions:
 Confirm the decision of the PIO, modify it, or reverse it (e.g. by providing information
that the PIO had originally refused to disclose);
 Whatever decision is reached through the internal review, the officer in charge must
inform the applicant of this as well as the reasons behind the decision (e.g. if a denial of
disclosure decision is upheld, explain why the requested information is exempted from
disclosure);
 In cases where a PIO is found to have been negligent in the performance of his/her
duties under the Act, departmental action could be ordered against him/her.
External Complaint Mechanism
It is important that there be some independent body – outside the public body concerned – that
people can go to if they have an RTI related complaint. In the case of the Punjab Transparency
and RTI Act, this is the Punjab Information Commission. Details about the set up and functions
of the Commission were given in Session 3. To give a brief recap: it is a three-member body
headed by the Chief Information Commissioner. All members are senior personnel, either from
government/judiciary or civil society. In addition to handling RTI related complaints, the
Commission’s responsibilities include raising RTI awareness, supporting public bodies to
implement the law, enforcing and monitoring implementation, and advising the government on
how to improve this.
In relation to RTI complaints, the procedure is as follows: complaints must be submitted in

writing to the Commission. Note that people can approach the Commission if they fail to get
satisfaction from the internal review procedure, but can also take their complaint directly to the
Commission.
Complaints must be submitted in writing, giving details of the original RTI request, public body
and PIO concerned, response to the RTI request (if any) and the problem (complaint).
The Commission must decide on a complaint within thirty days of receiving it. It can take sixty
days if there are good reasons for doing so, and these must be stated in writing.
In handling complaints, the Commission can exercise the powers of a civil court to issue
summons for witnesses or documents, enforce attendance of persons and force them to give
evidence, examine and inspect information, and so on.
The Commission can uphold the decision of the public body to refuse to disclose information, or
it can uphold the complaint and order the public body to disclose the information. Under the
law, the Commission can also decide if there is a public interest in disclosure of information that
would otherwise be exempted under the Act.
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The Commission can, while inquiring into a complaint, impose a fine on a Public Information
Officer. The amount and manner of the fine will be decided by the Commission.
You should also be aware that, under the Punjab RTI Ordinance, anyone who wilfully destroys
or otherwise obstructs access to information that is subject to an RTI request, or internal
review, or complaint to the Commission, is committing an offence punishable by imprisonment
of up to two years and/or a fine.
The Commission has thirty days in which to decide on complaints. It can take longer if needed,
but this and the reasons for the additional time, must be communicated to complainants in
writing.
____________
Implications for PIOs
As you can see, the Punjab Information Commission is a body with strong investigative and
enforcement powers.
As PIO you must ensure that you carry out your duties under the RTI Act properly, particularly
in relation to:
 the manner in which you treat applicants (being polite and helping those who need
assistance submitting RTI requests);
 the time that you take to respond to requests (remember the law allows 14 days to deal
with standard requests);
 and – critically – your decision on whether requested information can be disclosed or is
exempt under the RTI Act.
It could be that delays are caused by the actions of others, e.g. other officials in your department
fail to provide you the requested information in time. This is why it is very important that you
document all the steps you take in handling RTI requests, and relevant dates.
Complaints in relation to behaviour, procedure or time taken will generally be due to negligence
on the part of someone – either yourself or colleagues in your department. If everyone carries
out their duties properly, these should be minimal. The more common complaints are likely to
be about rejection of RTI requests, i.e. refusal to disclose information. Deciding on exemptions
will not always be ‘black and white’ – indeed, most requests will fall into ‘grey areas’ where it is
not clear whether information can be disclosed or not. While there should be systems in place
within your public body for you to consult other relevant officials to help you decide on this,
those people will not be specialists in the RTI Act and its provisions and hence they could
interpret these incorrectly.
It is important to stress that, in relation to exemptions, the role of the Information Commission
is not simply punitive. Commissioners will have a thorough understanding of the Punjab
Transparency and RTI Act, and of the exemptions regime. They will have dealt with many other
similar cases – deciding on whether certain information is exempt from disclosure – and will
have built up a body of knowledge and prior decisions on this. In sum, they are in a very good
position – much better than you or other officials in your department – to decide on exemptions.
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Given this, should the Commission decide that certain information can be disclosed, you should
not see that as a (negative) reflection on your performance; rather, you should see it as the
Commission carrying out its responsibility to guide public bodies on RTI related matters.
Furthermore, a decision by the Commission on disclosure of a certain type of information, will
make it much easier for you to make the correct response next time you receive a similar
request.
Activity: RTI Appeal Case Study
Here is a real life request for information from the Netherlands. The request was initially refused.
Read the details of the request and the reasons for refusing it. Do you agree with the arguments
put forward for refusing?
‘When I started as a civil servant, one of the first requests for information I had to deal with was
an application from a journalist who wanted to look at the declarations of expenses submitted
by the Minister of the Interior, and the actual restaurant and other bills they were based on. The
minister refused to make these documents public on the basis of three arguments:
 Expense declarations and restaurant bills are not official documents and therefore do
not fall under the scope of the Government Information (Public Access) Act.
 Even if they were to be considered to be official documents, access would still have to be
denied because making them public would infringe the privacy of the minister. Citizens
do not need to know details of what expenses the minister declares (the minister was,
however, prepared to reveal the total amount declared).
 It would hamper the work of the minister if it were known which restaurants and hotels
he visited and whom he spoke to.’
Do not look at the outcome below until you have decided what your decision would be!
___________
Here is what happened when the case went to appeal:
‘After an administrative appeal and proceedings before a court of first instance, the case was
brought before the Council of State, the highest administrative court in the Netherlands. The
Council of State ruled as follows on the above arguments:
 Declaration forms and restaurant bills are official documents, as they are related to the
work of the minister as a public official.
 To some extent the information can be refused on grounds of privacy. This is true, for
example, of the meals mentioned on the restaurant bill and the bank account number on
the declaration of expenses.
 It also acknowledged that, in principle, the documents might contain information which,
if made public, would hamper the work of the minister. But looking at the documents in
question, the Council of State concluded that this was not the case.
 The result of this judgement was that the Minister of the Interior made all the expense
declarations and restaurant bills public on the Ministry’s Internet site. The parts of the
documents that contained private information were blanked out.
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Another possible consideration is whether the information requested relates to another

individual whose privacy may be violated if it were released. Privacy may, of course, be a
legitimate exception to granting access to information. In that case, it may be necessary to seek
the consent of the third party referred to in the record. Or it may be necessary to release only
that part of the record that does not refer to the third party.’
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 In the event of RTI related complaints, the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act provides
for an internal review procedure and an external complaints mechanism.
 The internal review takes place within the public body concerned. The officer
responsible must respond to a complaint within 14 days, either
upholding/modifying/reversing the decision of the PIO. They must also explain the
internal review decision and reasons for it in writing to the complainant. Departmental
action can be ordered against a PIO found to be negligent in his/her duties.
 The external complaints mechanism is the Punjab Information Commission. Complaints

submitted to the Commission must be responded to within 30 days. The Commission
can uphold the decision of the public body/PIO not to disclose information, or can order
information disclosure. The Commission has extensive investigative and punitive
powers.
 PIOs should document all the steps they take in relation to handling an RTI request, in
case they need to provide these details in any appeals procedure.
 Exemptions are difficult to decide on, and many appeals will relate to decisions by PIOs
not to disclose information. The Information Commission is much better placed than
PIOs to decide on exemptions – hence any review/reversal of a PIO’s decision by the
Commission should be seen as supporting the PIO’s work, and not necessarily as a
criticism.
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SESSION SEVEN: PIOs’ OTHER DUTIES
Session Overview
The main responsibility of PIOs is to handle RTI requests, but they also have other duties under
the Act. This session looks at the other functions of PIOs – proactive disclosure of information
by the public body, improved record management, raising public awareness of RTI, and
reporting on RTI implementation to the Punjab Information Commission. The session does not
go into these in great detail, but by the end you should have a broad understanding of the full
scope of your work under the RTI Act and how the various functions are inter-connected.
Introduction
At the end of Session 3, there was a review of the responsibilities of public bodies under the
Punjab Transparency and RTI Act. You will recall that, as well as appointing and training PIOs
and setting up systems to handle RTI requests, all public bodies have to carry out proactive
disclosure of an extensive list of information, improve records management, raise public
awareness of RTI and report on the measures they have taken to implement the RTI Act to the
Punjab Information Commission.
It is likely that public bodies will assign officials other than PIOs to carry out duties other than
handling RTI requests, especially proactive disclosure and improving records management –
not least because these are significant jobs in themselves and it would be very hard for PIOs to
do everything! However, until officials are designated for these tasks, under the law they are
the responsibility of the PIO. It is therefore important that, as PIOs, you have some
understanding of these other duties. This is the aim of this session.
Please note that we will not be looking at these other duties in great detail (each would require
a manual by themselves!), but sufficient for you to understand the broad scope of work under
each.
Proactive Disclosure of Information
Proactive disclosure refers to public bodies placing information in the public domain (e.g. on
their website) even without anyone submitting RTI requests for it.
Proactive disclosure is carried out for key types of information, e.g. services provided by a
public body, its budget, that would commonly be of interest to a large number of citizens.
Proactively releasing this information saves lots of citizens having to submit RTI requests, and it
reduces the administrative burden on the public body of having to respond to multiple similar
requests. Proactive disclosure also makes it easy for citizens to access information.
The Punjab Transparency and RTI Act has an extensive list of proactive disclosure
requirements. The full list was given in Session 3 on the law, but to recap it includes:
 laws and rules under which a public body functions;

 organizational details;
 staff directory;
 services provided;
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Training Manual
 policies and decisions;

 decision-making processes and opportunities for public participation;
 budget details (proposed and actual expenditure);
 procurement details;
 details of subsidies and concessions/permits/licenses;
 RTI information.
All public bodies covered under the Act must ensure the above information is made available to
the public.
Of course, there is a big difference between making a list of information to be proactively

disclosed and actually doing so. A number of challenges could be faced. For a start, all the
information listed might not be readily available – it has to be found and collated. Secondly,
some of the information is ‘static’ – it will not change (much) over time, e.g. the laws and rules
by which a public body functions. But other types of information will be constantly changing -
e.g. staff positions as people are transferred/promoted - and hence need to be constantly
updated.
Thirdly, for information to be really useful to citizens, it must be in a format and language that
they can easily understand (government terminology is often incomprehensible to ordinary
citizens). This could well require ‘converting’ complex, lengthy documents into simple clear
summaries. The budget is a good example of this – most people would struggle to understand
the full budget document, but a clear budget summary explaining in layman’s terms the
government’s sources of revenue, and main items of expenditure, would be readily
understandable. This too requires effort. Finally, of course, there is the actual process of
dissemination itself: uploading information on a public body’s website, or printing and
disseminating hard copies.
In sum, proactive disclosure will not happen automatically – substantial effort will be needed
for a public body to comply with the requirements for this under the Punjab Transparency and
RTI Act. Furthermore, simply releasing information is not enough: it must also be readily
accessible (easy to find), easy to understand and up-to-date.
In order to carry out proactive disclosure of information properly, public bodies need to
develop systems and procedures for this, and designate officials responsible for tasks, e.g. lower
tier offices could be required to submit monthly updates on prescribed formats, other staff
would be tasked with collating and analysing this information, others could be responsible for
converting this into easily understood documents and disseminating these on the public body’s
website/other sites. In addition, obtaining feedback from citizens/users of proactively
disclosed information is important to identify areas for improvement.
______
As noted above, given that proactive disclosure is such a big job, it is almost certain that each
public body will have to designate officials other than PIOs to carry this out. However, there is
one aspect which you will have a direct role in. As PIO, you have the most insight into the kinds
of information people are requesting. Whenever you come across something that lots of people
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Training Manual
are asking for, and that is not currently being proactively disclosed, you should flag that. Clearly
– since lots of people are asking for it – there must be strong demand for that, and hence it
makes sense to start proactively disclosing it.
Records Management
We have already seen that Punjab has a strong RTI law. All of you have been appointed as PIOs
and are here to be trained, which shows strong commitment to implementing the law.
However, even with all this – if you and your colleagues find it difficult to actually find the
information that people are requesting – RTI in Punjab will fail. This is why good records
management is critical: it allows PIOs and others to find information.
Recognizing this, the Punjab RTI Act calls on public bodies to take steps for proper maintenance
and indexing of records.
I’m sure you are all familiar with the problems with regard to records and filing in Pakistan!
Some offices have computerised systems, but the norm remains paper filing systems. As public
bodies generate vast quantities of documents and records, the task of managing these is
correspondingly difficult – leading to records being lost, damaged/destroyed. Related problems
are a lack of clarity about what needs to be preserved, what is a priority, and what can be
destroyed – this leads to a tendency to keep everything.
Many of these issues could be addressed through automation of records management systems.
This would allow proper organization of records, easy and quick access to records, and ensure
preservation of records.
But again, as with proactive disclosure of information, so automation of records – particularly

archival material – is a huge task. It will require a situation analysis of current records (e.g.
which records exist?), systems (e.g. how are they currently stored and what problems are faced)
and needs (e.g. what kinds of records are most commonly used by the public body?), design of
an appropriate records management system to address those needs, investment in hardware
and software, training of staff and ongoing implementation support.
Given this, public bodies will certainly have to assign dedicated staff and resources to carry out
this huge task. As PIO, you can support this process by highlighting the kinds of information
that people are most interested in (based on the RTI requests submitted to you) – these could
then be prioritized when records management systems are improved/automated. You should
also ensure that your seniors are aware of the problems you face in carrying out your
responsibilities (responding to RTI requests) if records are hard to find – this will act as a
pressure for public bodies to comply with the law and improve their records management.
Public Awareness-Raising about RTI
How many of you knew what RTI was before you were appointed as PIOs? – probably not many,
and you all work in government. The level of awareness and understanding of RTI among
ordinary citizens is much lower still. For RTI to succeed in Punjab, it is important that the
public be made aware of RTI and how it can help them, and be guided on how to use the law.
We have already seen that PIOs have a duty under the RTI Act to guide people on the RTI
application procedure and, if needed, assist citizens in preparing and submitting RTI requests.
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In addition, you must try to raise awareness about the RTI Act among citizens who do not
approach you, i.e. among the general public.
How to go about this?
Well, one of the bits of information that all public bodies have to proactively disclose is details of
RTI arrangements, i.e. the names and contact details of PIOs, the procedure for submitting RTI
requests, time involved and so on. To facilitate this it would be useful to produce a guide for
citizens explaining all this.
You should note, in this regard, that the Punjab Information Commission’s functions include
awareness-raising about RTI and – under the RTI Act – it has to produce a user-friendly guide
on RTI for citizens. The same guide can be used/adapted by individual public bodies. Similarly,
the Commission will be producing posters, videos and other promotional material which, again,
can be adapted by individual public bodies. The point is that there is a lot of support available
to PIOs for raising public awareness about RTI.
Reporting to Punjab Information Commission
This is another requirement of all public bodies under the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act –
they must submit an annual report to the Punjab Information Commission detailing all the
activities they have carried out during the year to implement the RTI Act.
This report will cover the full gamut of responsibilities of public bodies under the Act, i.e.
handling RTI requests, proactive disclosure, records management, public awareness-raising.
The Commission will provide all public bodies with a format for the report.
On the first of these, RTI requests, as PIO you will need to present details of the number of RTI
requests received (with appropriate breakdown into types of applicants, kinds of information
requested, etc), the response to these (how many provided full/partial information, how many
rejected, timelines), the number of complaints (requests for internal review, outcome of these),
and the number of appeals. As we saw in Session 4 on ‘Handling Requests’, each public body
should have systems in place to keep track of this information. If a suitable tracking/monitoring
system is established and data is entered into this on a regular basis, it will be relatively
straightforward to compile annual figures for submission to the Information Commission.
Reporting on other aspects of RTI implementation will be less quantitative and more
descriptive: what measures have been put in place, what impact have they had, and so on.
It is important that PIOs and other relevant officials be fully briefed on reporting requirements
so that they are able to complete their report on time and submit to the Commission by the 31
August annual deadline.
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 The main function of PIOs is handling RTI requests but, under the RTI Act, they are also
responsible for all other aspects of RTI implementation: proactive disclosure, records
management, public awareness-raising about RTI, and annual reporting on RTI
implementation to the Punjab Information Commission.
 The scope of this work is extensive, and public bodies will certainly have to appoint
other officials to carry out some tasks, e.g. proactive disclosure, improving records
management. Nonetheless, PIOs should have an understanding of all RTI related tasks.
 Proactive disclosure – the Punjab RTI Act has a long list of kinds of information that all
public bodies must proactively disclose (i.e. even if no one submits RTI requests for it).
This includes details of services provided, budget, staff and decision-making processes.
 It is not enough simply to make information available to the public: it must also be
readily accessible, easy to understand and up-to-date. Public bodies will have to set up
systems for effective proactive disclosure.
 Records management is critical if PIOs/other officials are to be able to find the
information requested through the RTI Act. Improving records management will entail
a needs assessment, development of appropriate automated system, and training of
people to use this.
 Public awareness-raising about RTI is important so people use the RTI Act and submit
RTI requests properly. The Punjab Information Commission will be producing
materials, e.g. user-friendly guide to RTI, which public bodies could adapt for their own
use.
 Reporting to the Punjab Information Commission is an annual requirement for all public
bodies under the RTI Act. It is important to set up systems for this so that reports are
prepared in a timely and efficient manner.
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FINAL SESSION: SUMMARY AND REVIEW
This is the final session of your training on the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act and your role
as public information officers.
Over the past two days and seven sessions you’ve been given a lot of information to take in! In
this session, we will review the key points from each session. This is an opportunity to recap,
refresh your memory, improve learning (retention of information) and – very importantly – an
opportunity for you to ask questions about anything you’re not clear on.
Following the review and questions, we will divide you into two groups and have an RTI quiz, to
see which team has a better understanding of RTI!
Review
Read through the key points given at the end of each session and address any questions.
RTI Quiz
Divide participants into two teams and ask them alternate questions; the one with the most correct
answers at the end is the winner.
1. What does the term ‘right to information’ mean?
Right to information refers to the right of citizens to access information from government.
2. Name three (potential) benefits of RTI.
RTI can help promote transparency and accountability, reduce corruption, improve service
delivery.
3. How can RTI help public (government) bodies?
RTI makes information readily available to public bodies (as well as citizens), thereby
enabling them to carry out their work more efficiently.
4. How many countries across the world have some form of RTI legislation?
95 countries.
5. List five essential requirements for good RTI legislation.
Good RTI legislation should include the following: wide scope in terms of public bodies and
types of information covered, extensive proactive disclosure list, defined and limited
exemptions regime, details of application procedures, an independent
complaints/enforcement body, promotional measures.
6. What is the CLD-AIE scoring framework and ranking for RTI legislation? What is the
maximum possible score on the framework?
This is a framework developed by two RTI NGOs which allows RTI/FOI laws to be assessed,
scored and ranked. The framework awards points for inclusion of various essential
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components of good RTI legislation, with a maximum possible score of 150. Based on each
country’s score it is ranked against others.
7. What score would the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act get?
123 points.
8. Should an RTI law require people to give a reason for requesting information?
No, RTI is a fundamental human right and requesters should be able to exercise that right
without having to explain/justify why they need information.
9. Under the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act, is there a fee for submitting RTI requests?
No, there is no fee for submitting RTI requests. [Some charges could apply to cover the
costs incurred by a public body in providing information, e.g. for photocopying.]
10. List the items that, as PIO, you need to check are included in any RTI request submitted
to you.
Names and contact details of the requester, name of public body, clear description of
information requested, (optional) specification of form in which information is to be
provided.
11. What is the timeline for handling standard RTI requests?
14 working days
12. Give three cases (scenarios) where this timeline would be altered? (In each case give
the number of days to respond).
i) If the information requires time to find – additional 14 days allowed.
ii) If the information is already being proactively disclosed – response must be given within
5 working days.
iii) If the information relates to the life/liberty of a person – must be treated urgently and
responded to within 2 working days.
13. What happens if someone submits an RTI request to the wrong public body?
It is the PIO’s duty to transfer it to the correct public body within seven days and inform the
requester of this. If the PIO does not know which is the correct public body, s/he should
inform the requester of this also.
14. List five kinds of interests which should be protected through the exemptions in an RTI
law?
Choose five from: national security, public order, a country’s international relations,
management of the economy, law enforcement, legally privileged information, legitimate
privacy interests, legitimate commercial interests, ability of government to formulate
policies, life or health or safety of a person.
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15. How can you decide if information is exempted under the law?
Apply the three-part test: a) does the information requested relate to any of the interests
that are to be protected in the exemptions regime of the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act?
b) would disclosure of information cause harm to that interest? c) does the public interest
in disclosure outweigh the harm caused?
16. Does the public interest over-ride apply if lots of people demand that certain
information be disclosed?
No the public interest over-ride is not based on popular demand, but on whether public
interests such as exposing corruption, protecting public health and safety, exposing
hypocritical behaviour by those in public office.... are involved.
17. What happens if information disclosure is allowed under the Punjab RTI Act, but banned
under some other law?
The Punjab Transparency and RTI Act takes precedence over other laws: other laws can
elaborate the exemptions given in the RTI Act but not expand on these.
18. Why is proactive disclosure of information by public bodies important?
It saves lots of citizens having to submit RTI requests for commonly required information,
and it saves public bodies having to respond to lots of similar requests.
19. What principles should be followed for effective proactive disclosure?
Proactively disclosed information should be readily accessible, easy to understand and up-
to-date.
20. List five types of information that all public bodies must proactively disclose under the
Punjab RTI Act.
Choose five from: functions of a public body; norms and procedures for carrying out these
functions; laws and regulations by which a public body functions; staff directory; budget;
details of concessions and permits; details of subsidies; decision-making processes and
opportunities for public input in these; RTI information.
21. Why is good records management by public bodies important?
It enables PIOs/other officials to quickly find information requested under the RTI Act; it
also greatly improves efficiency in functioning of a public body.
22. Public bodies have to deal with RTI requests, carry out proactive disclosure and improve
records management. Name two other responsibilities they have under the Punjab RTI
Act?
Raising public awareness of RTI and reporting on RTI implementation to the Punjab
Information Commission.
23. What are the main functions of the Punjab Information Commission?
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Training Manual
It is the external complaints/enforcement mechanism under the RTI Act; raising RTI
awareness; supporting public bodies to implement the Act; training of PIOs; monitoring
RTI implementation and making recommendations for improvement.
24. What is the internal review procedure for handling RTI related complaints?
Each public body must appoint an officer in charge of handling RTI related complaints.
They must review the RTI request and PIO’s response and decide to confirm/modify the
PIO’s decision, or reverse it and allow information disclosure; also on any departmental
action to be taken against the PIO involved.
25. How much time is allowed for the internal review procedure in the law?
The officer in charge must respond within 14 days of receiving the complaint.
26. How long does the Commission have to respond to complaints?
The Commission must decide on complaints within 30 days of receiving these; an

additional 30 days can be taken with good reason, but the applicant must be informed of
these in writing.
27. What powers does the Commission enjoy to investigate RTI related complaints?
The Commission enjoys the powers of a civil court: it can summon persons and compel
them to give evidence or produce documents; it can examine and inspect information;
receive evidence on affidavits; requisition information from any office; examine
information on any spot.
28. What penalties can the Commission impose?
If a PIO is found negligent in his/her duties, the Commission can direct the PIO to pay a fine
not exceeding two days salary for each day of delay in providing requested information, or
a fine of up to Rs. 50,000.
29. How often must public bodies report their progress on RTI implementation to the
Punjab Information Commission?
All public bodies covered under the Act must submit an annual report detailing measures
taken to implement the Punjab RTI Act by 31 August.
30. How can the Information Commission support public bodies in RTI implementation?
The Commission can produce awareness-raising material for the public, which can also be
used/adapted by individual public bodies; it can support training of PIOs; it can help public
bodies develop systems and procedures for proactive disclosure, handling requests, records
management and so on.
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Training Manual

PUNJAB TRANSPARENCY AND RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT

PUNJAB INFORMATION COMMISSION

TRAINING MANUAL FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICERS

TWO-DAY TRAINING COURSE

1. What is right to information (RTI) and why is it important?

3. Punjab Transparency and RTI Act

4. Role of PIOs: Procedure for Handling Requests

7. PIOs’ Other Duties

Summary and Review

Discussion of expectations from the course

This is a two-day course, divided into seven main sessions:

SESSION ONE: WHAT IS RIGHT TO INFORMATION? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

What do we mean by right to information?

Something for you to think about:

How does RTI change this traditional relationship?

Terminology: Right to information or freedom of information?

RTI is a fundamental human right

Right to information is a fundamental human right. It is included in Article 19 of the Universal

Article 19, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

International Right to Know Day1

Patrick Birkinshaw, ‘Freedom of Information and Openness: Fundamental Human Rights?’ 2

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative website, RTI Resources 3

2 Patrick Birkinshaw, ‘Freedom of Information and Openness: Fundamental Human Rights’,

Activity 2: How can RTI help me?

1. A journalist investigating a story about corruption in a government privatization

[To be followed by discussion.]

Actual RTI Examples from other Countries

South Africa: Using RTI to get water for a village

Uganda: Using RTI to stop corruption in the education system

India: Using RTI to repair a village bridge

India: Using RTI to ‘scare’ officials to issue a passport

Pakistan: Using FOI (RTI) to ensure safe drinking water in Islamabad

Thailand: Using RTI to secure education entitlements

Slovakia: Using RTI to protect the environment

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS

 Right to information (also referred to as freedom of information or access to

SESSION TWO: RTI LEGISLATION PRINCIPLES

Why have a Legal Framework for RTI (RTI Law)?

Getting the Right Law

a) established by or under the constitution – legislature, executive, local administration,

In terms of getting information to citizens, proactive disclosure is an important step up from

Thomas Blanton, The World’s Right to Know6

 the institutional set-up of the public body

Defined and Limited Exemptions

Defined Requesting Procedures

‘Making the Law Work: The Challenges of Implementation’ 7

Who should be responsible for this?

Activity 3: What happens when RTI principles are missing?

Missing Principle Impact on RTI Effectiveness (ability of

Missing Principle Impact on RTI Effectiveness (ability of

RTI Legislation Scoring Framework and Ranking

Category Max Points

# Requesting Procedure Max. Points

# Requesting Procedure Max. Points

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS

SESSION THREE: PUNJAB TRANSPARENCY AND RTI ACT

Scope of Punjab RTI Law

In terms of public bodies, the law applies to:

Section 10 Application Procedure

Section 4 Proactive Disclosure

(a) national defence or security, public order or international relations of

Section 24 Act to take precedence over other laws