Public Information Officer, NADRA is directed to share with the Appellant certified copy of his application and actions taken by the Respondent to date, based on the record available on the file pertaining to his case within 10 working days of the receipt of this Order with intimation to this commission.
The commission maintained that trust of citizens in public institutions is irrevocably linked with timely and accurate flow of information between citizens and public institutions. While the Respondent should not share sensitive information which is part of, an, may impact on-going investigation of the case, the Respondent should share with the Appellant steps taken to investigate the case.
This commission is of the view that citizens have the right of access to information pertaining to actions taken on their complaints/applications by federal public bodies and paper-trail generated thereof. In fact, had the Respondent kept apprised the Appellant about the steps taken on his application, he would not have filed request for information in the first place. Furthermore, access to information about the steps taken by the Respondent on the application of the Appellant would reveal whether the Respondent had initiated action on the application when it was earlier received by the Respondent or after the request for information filed by the Appellant.