ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) has directed the National Assembly Secretariat to provide detailed information regarding expenditures, travel allowances, perks and privileges of chairpersons and members of parliamentary standing committees and subcommittees.

The order, issued by Information Commissioner Ijaz Hassan Awan and Chief Information Commissioner Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, came following an appeal filed by journalist Saddia Mazhar.

In the order, available with Dawn, the PIC directed the secretary of the NA Secretariat to provide clear and specific responses to 13 outstanding questions under the Right of Access to Information Act 2017 (RTI Act) within 10 days.

As per the order, Mazhar had submitted an information request on June 21, seeking details about the functioning and financial expenditures of parliamentary committees from January 2025 onwards.

She had requested lists of standing committees and subcommittees, the number of meetings conducted, total expenditure incurred on those meetings and travel allowances paid to committee members and chairpersons, as well as the complete details of perks, privileges and other payments made to lawmakers serving on these committees.

After receiving no satisfactory response from the NA Secretariat, she filed an appeal with the PIC on July 5.

National Assembly Litigation Officer Sehrish Mushtaq represented the Secretariat during the proceedings.

The NA Secretariat submitted responses which were shared with the applicant, but she maintained that, except for the first question concerning the list of standing committees, the remaining 13 questions remained unanswered.

After examining the responses and information available on the NA’s official website, the PIC acknowledged that substantial parliamentary information had been published online but observed that it did not adequately address the journalist’s specific questions.

“The information provided does not meet the specific requirements set out in the information request,” the PIC stated, stressing that public bodies must provide objective and specific responses to information requests in accordance with the RTI Act, even where relevant information is already available online.

Thus, the PIC directed the NA Secretary to provide complete and specific responses to questions numbered 2 to 14 within 10 days. The implementation proceedings have been scheduled for Nov 19 to review compliance with the directive.

Under Section 11 of the RTA Act, any citizen of Pakistan can submit requests to the designated official in any official body.

“Any written request which identifies the information or record sought in sufficient detail, to enable the public body to locate it and which includes a complete address and contact details for delivery of the information or record, shall be treated as a request,” it reads.

Information regarding the grant of licences, allotments and other benefits, privileges, contracts and agreements made by a public body is publicly disclosable information, according to the Act.