July 04, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 29, 1429

ISLAMABAD, July 3: The Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP) has expressed reservations about the Freedom of Information Bill 2008, which is expected to be tabled in the National Assembly soon.

In its preliminary comments submitted to the ministries of information and law, the CRCP has observed that the bill0 if enacted in its present form would not make much difference.

Failure of the bill to make a reference to the provincial FOI laws indicates that it has been drafted without a situation analysis of the ground realities. A large number of improvements were obviously needed, but only some of them had been introduced into the bill, the commission said.

Similarly, drafters of the bill appear to be ignorant about the jurisdiction of the federal ombudsman.