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Home » Home » Order on Appeal No 1937-05/22 Bol Interprises Vs Special Technology Zone Authority

Order on Appeal No 1937-05/22 Bol Interprises Vs Special Technology Zone Authority

This commission holds that the disclosure of requested “list of applicants, who applied for obtaining “Zone Developer License” under STZA laws, till the receipt of this letter” is not permissible under the Act, 2017. This list cannot be disclosed as mere filing of an application by an entity for any License does not mean that it becomes a beneficiary. Similarly, the related documents submitted by entities cannot be disclosed for merely applying for a License.
This commission holds that the disclosure of the list of entities who were issued Zone Developer Licenses, along with related documents submitted with their applications and correspondence of the Respondent with these entities is public information and its disclosure warranted under Section 5 (1) (e) of the Act, 2017 which is as under:
“The condition upon which members of the public body can acquire any license, permit, consent, approval, grant, allotment or other benefits of whatsoever nature from any public body or upon which transactions, agreements and contracts, including, contracts of employment which can be entered into with the public body, along with particulars about the recipients of any concession, permit, license or authorization granted by the public body”
This commission holds that the disclosure of the list of entities who were issued Zone Developer Licenses, along with related documents submitted with their applications and correspondence of the Respondent with these entities is public information and its disclosure warranted under Section 6 (c) of the Act, 2017 which is as under:
“Information regarding grant of licenses, allotments and other benefits, privileges, contracts and agreements made by a public body”

This commission holds that the plea of the Respondent that the disclosure of records/information pertaining to entities which were issued Zone Developer Licenses will constitute actionable breach of trust and that the requested records/information cannot be disclosed on the grounds of confidentiality is legally untenable.
The purpose of the confidentiality clause in contract is to protect legitimate commercial interests of the private entities and not shrouding in the cloak of secrecy entire range of documents which have nothing to do with the commercial interests of the private entities. Especially, after the insertion of Article 19-A through 18th Amendment in the constitution, federal public bodies are expected to ensure that only reasonable restrictions are imposed on citizens’ right of access to matters of public importance through the confidentiality clauses in the contracts.
This commission maintains that if the requested information/are withheld on the ground of actionable breach of trust, then citizens of Pakistan will be left with no choice but to rely on the word of the Respondent that Zone Developer Licenses were issued meeting all the requirements under the relevant laws, rules, regulations, terms and conditions.
This commission also maintains that requested records/information cannot be withheld in entirety on the ground of confidentiality. Only those records/information can be exempted from disclosure which is likely to harm legitimate commercial interests, or, privacy related interests of the entities.

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