This commission holds that the Respondent, instead of dwelling upon the motives of the Appellant for seeking the information, should have decided on his request for information under the provisions of the Act, 2017.
This commission holds that every citizen of Pakistan has locus standi to seek information from public bodies and under Section 11 (5) of the Act, 2017, officials are specifically forbidden to ask the applicant to submit reasons for seeking information. This also means that the officers are not supposed to dwell upon the motives for seeking the information.
The Respondent has submitted that “Ex-MVRDE (Military Vehicle Research and Development Establishment), es ARDE (Armament Research and Development Establishment), and ex-IOP (Institute of Optronics) were formerly subordinate departments of DGMP under MoDP. However, as per the vision of the federal government for institutional reforms, DGRDE was created after re-organization of these three departments”. The Respondent also submitted that “Re-organization entails revision of TO&E and avoiding of duplication in task assignment ultimately leading to rationalization of manpower and right sizing. Therefore, re-organization inevitably leads towards merger”.
The Respondent has denied access to requested documents on the grounds that as process of re-organisation is underway, the requested documents are part of internal deliberations and no final decision has been taken yet. This commission concurs with the stance of the Respondent.
The Respondent stated and also submitted in writing in Appeal No. E284-05/22, in the case of Syed Mustaneer Jaffar Vs Ministry of Defence Production that “the post of DG(RDE) is specifically reserved for Major General of Pakistan Army” and that posting / transfer / appointment orders are issued by GHQ. The Respondent also submitted before this commission that neither a separate notification is issued by Establishment Division nor or Ministry of Defence.
This commission holds that that the requested records cannot be disclosed under Section 7 (e) of the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017 as these records pertain to the internal matter of posting/transfers of the Pakistan Army.
This commission holds that as the Appellant has submitted before this commission that “The annexures mentioned in reply dated 08.06.2022 have not been provided”, the same should be provided.