Public interest dictates certified copy of the CV submitted by the candidate selected for the post cannot be withheld on the grounds of privacy as it this information is critical to determine the level of transparency and fairness adopted in the recruitment process. Therefore, none of the provisions of this Act, including Section 7 (g) can be attracted to withhold the disclosure of the requested information.
The personal/private information means CNIC details, residential addresses, telephone numbers, bank accounts/financial details and health conditions.
The learned counsel maintained that sharing copy of CV after blanking out personal information would tantamount to tampering with the record. This argument does not hold water. It is not unlawful to sever parts of documents for the purpose of sharing record under the Act. This commission maintains that if the public interest warrants the disclosure of a report, though some of its part may contain information which should be exempted from disclosure on reasonable grounds, those parts can be severed and the rest should be made public as required under Section 16 (1) (i) of the Act.