Vision

1. To safeguard the constitutional right of citizens to access information of public importance
2. Enabling citizens to be involved in public affairs to effectively ensure transparency in all matters.
3. Establishing a sense of citizenship, both in the general public and public organizations to meet the challenges of a democratic culture and its emerging issues.

Mission Statement

Functions of the Information Commission:

(1) The Information Commission shall have a primary responsibility to receive and decide on complaints.

(2) The Information Commission shall, in addition to its complaints function, conduct the following activities:

(a) set rules and minimum standards regarding the manner in which public bodies are required to manage their records, in accordance with section 4 of this Act;

(b) designate further categories of information which may be subject to proactive disclosure, in accordance with sub-section (l) of section 5 of this Act;

(c) adopt a schedule of the fees that public bodies may charge for providing information to requesters, in accordance with sub-section (2) of section 13 of this Act;

(d) approve or reject extensions to the maximum period that information may be kept confidential, in accordance with clause (f) of section 14 of this Act;

(e) compile a user-friendly handbook, in Urdu and English, describing in easily comprehensible form the rights established by, and how to make a request for information under, this Act;

(f) refer to the appropriate authorities cases which reasonably disclose evidence of criminal offences under this Act;

(g) compile a comprehensive annual report both describing its own activities, including an overview of its audited accounts, and providing an overview of the activities undertaken by all public bodies to implement this Act, taking into account the information provided by individual public bodies pursuant to sub-section (2) of section 5 of this Act; and

(h) have an accredited accountant conduct an audit of its accounts on an annual basis, and provide a copy of its audited accounts to the Provincial Assembly and the Department of Finance.

Powers of the Information Commission:

(1) The Information Commission shall have all powers, direct or incidental, as are necessary to undertake its functions as provided for in this Act, including full legal personality, and the power to acquire, hold and dispose of property.

(2) The Information Commission shall also have the power to conduct inquiries, in relation to either a complaint or other matters connected with the proper implementation of this Act, and when conducting such an inquiry, the Information Commission shall have the powers of a Civil Court under Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), 1908 in respect of the following matters:

(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of witnesses and compelling them to give oral or written evidence under oath;

(b) requiring public bodies and to produce documents or things;
(c) inspect the premises of public bodies; and
(d) examining and inspecting information.

(3) When deciding a complaint, the Information Commission shall have the following powers:

(a) to order a public body to disclose information to a requester or to take such other reasonable measures as it may deem necessary to compensate a requesters for any failure to respect the provisions of this Act;

(b) to impose a daily fine of up to Rs. 250 per day, up to a maximum of Rs. 25,000, on any official who has acted willfully to obstruct any activity which is required to be undertaken by this Act, including with a view to preventing or delaying the disclosure of information to a requester; and

(c) to require a public body to take such general measures as may be required to address systematic failures to respect the provisions of this Act, including by appointing a [Public Information Officer], by conducting training for its employees, by improving its record management, by publishing information on a proactive basis and/or by preparing and publishing an annual report.

(4) A decision of the Information Commission under sub-section (3) shall, if it has not been appealed against within 30 days, be registered with the [Court of District and Sessions Judge of the concerned district] and any failure to respect the decision shall be dealt with in the same way as any contempt of court.