The President's Office has gone to court to classify details of the government's political appointees.
According to the High Court registry, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICOM) decision was appealed on February 2. The court has not yet decided to accept the case.
The President's Office appealed the ICOM decision which requires the government to disclose information of the political employees appointed by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu under Article 115 of the Constitution until January 8, 2024.
ICOM decided that the government must disclose their names, offices, job titles and salaries. However, their addresses were declared confidential.
The current administration treats the number of political appointees as a big secret. The President's Office refuses to provide their details but separate government ministries have provided some information.
This is the second time the government has gone to court to classify the information of political appointees.
The Attorney General's (AG) office previously appealed to the High Court against the ICOM decision to disclose the details of 228 political employees who were dismissed as cost-cutting measures. The court has not yet accepted the case.
AG Ahmed Usham told Adhadhu that they decided to appeal because there were contradictions in the interpretation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
“There are contradictions with previous decisions of the Supreme Court and the High Court,” Usham said.
He said the ICOM's interpretation contradicts previous decisions of the courts on Articles 20 and 23 of the RTI Act.
