Information Commissioner Ahmed Ahid said yesterday that the President’s Office is misusing or exploiting the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Speaking at a hearing summoned by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICOM) for the President’s Office, Ahid noted that while the President’s Office claims applicants are misusing the RTI Act, the office itself is misusing the law by failing to respect the statutory deadlines for providing information.
"While the President’s Office, as the highest state authority, fails to respect the deadlines set in this law, your spokesperson and other officials have noted in press conferences that those requesting information are misusing or abusing this Act," Ahid said.
"However, that is not what we are seeing. From what we observe, isn't it the President’s Office that is currently misusing this law?"
Highlighting that the President’s Office has been the most complained-about institution for failing to provide information within the deadline as of mid-year, Ahid said that the office needs to reflect on its own conduct.
"The President’s Office has reached the middle of this year as the leading institution for complaints regarding the failure to provide information within the timeframe, according to statistics from the first six months. Therefore, while the President’s Office claims that applicants are misusing this law, you should consider to what extent you yourselves have complied with it," Ahid said.
Ahid further noted that numerous complaints have been received regarding the President's Office failing to provide information within the 21-day period mandated by the RTI Act, or even within the additional 14-day extension allowed under specific circumstances.
Attorney General (AG) Ahmed Usham has previously expressed concern, saying that government agencies have to dedicate a lot of time to RTI requests because applicants are "abusing" the law.
"We are seeing very often, especially recently, that the RTI Act is being heavily abused," Usham had said.
Additionally, the President’s Office Spokesperson, Mohamed Hussain Shareef (Mundhu), expressed concern over RTI requests being submitted anonymously. While he maintained that the President’s Office would remain accountable to RTI requests, the office consistently fails to provide timely responses.
