Defence, finance most queried ministries, PIC report reveals.

ISLAMABAD -- Since its establishment four years ago, the Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) received the highest number of appeals against the Defence Ministry, out of the total 2,474 filed by citizens, followed by the Ministry of Finance.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) saw a tie with an equal number of complaints filed against both entities. The Cabinet Division and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) found themselves on the fourth spot and the Law Ministry, the Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court ranked fifth on the list of bodies against whom the most number of complaints were filed.

In over 50 per cent of the cases, information could not be gathered from the public sector bodies or was still in the process of being collected. Meanwhile, the PIC has become dysfunctional as the four-year tenures of three of its four members have been completed.

According to a performance report, since its establishment on Nov 7, 2018, the commission was carrying out its statutory duties, implementing the Right of Access to Information Act 2017 as citizens would find it difficult to get information from federal public bodies -- constitutional bodies, federal ministries, commissions, etc.

Out of the total 2,474 appeals the PIC received in the last four years, 2,153 were received via post and 321 via email through an information management system. Out of these, 1,030 were resolved, the requested information provided to the appellants and case closure certificates shared with both the appellants and the respondents.

As per the report, the Establishment DiAAvAiAsion, Nadra, the NAB, ministries of infAorAmAaAtion, foreign affairs, energy, interior, humAan rights, education and climate change, the Election Commission of PakisAtan, the Higher Education Commission, Iesco, the FeAAAderal Public Service Commission, the NatAional Assembly Secretariat, PM Secretariat, Senate Secretariat, Allama Iqbal Open University, SNGPL, State Bank of Pakistan, OGDCL are among the entities that refused to share information.

The lone remaining commission member, Zahid...