Islamabad: Questions have been raised over transparency after the Pakistan Information Commission declined to provide correspondence relating to the expiry of the terms of its current members, saying the requested information does not fall within the definition of public record under the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017.
The commission, which decides citizens’ complaints regarding access to government information, also stated in its response that its office held no such record.
The information was sought by citizen Sadda Mazhar through a request sent on October 14, 2026, to Irfan Bashir, the Public Information Officer at the Pakistan Information Commission.
The request sought copies of letters or other correspondence sent to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting informing it that the terms of current members Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, a former federal secretary, and Ijaz Hassan Awan, a former judge, were due to expire in January 2027.
According to the request, the purpose was to establish whether the ministry had been informed in advance so that the process for appointing new members could begin without delay.
A second question sought copies of letters sent by former commission members, or by the commission’s registrar, to the ministry between August 2022 and January 2023. The request stated that former members had sent letters to the ministry around three months before their terms ended.
The citizen sought the records under the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017, which allows citizens to seek information held by public bodies, subject to the limits prescribed by law.
In its reply dated October 26, 2026, the commission said the request had been examined under Sections 2(v), 2(x) and 6 of the Act. It stated that the information sought did not fall within the scope of public record under those provisions.
The reply added: “There is no such record held by this office.”
The response does not clarify whether the requested letters were never prepared, were not held by the commission, or were held by another government office. It also does not establish whether the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has separately been informed about the January 2027 expiry of the current members’ terms.
The issue is significant as the request concerns preparations for new appointments, rather than personal details of commission members. If the appointment process requires advance action by the ministry, the existence and timing of formal communication could indicate whether the process is moving forward.
The commission’s reply does not confirm that the appointments will be delayed, nor does it prove that the ministry has not been informed. However, in the absence of the requested correspondence or a clearer explanation of where the record may be held, questions remain over the steps being taken ahead of the expiry of the current commission’s term in January 2027.
