PUNJAB TRANSPARENCY AND RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2013

Exact source transcription retained, including print layout and extraction artifacts. Text SHA-256: eb7dd148c13a9a0aae9d17c6cad0aa7c072b452636bb345ec1a14ed39bdeb181.

THE PUNJAB TRANSPARENCY AND RIGHT TO 
INFORMATION ACT 2013 
(XXV of 2013) 
CONTENTS 
1. Short title, extent and commencement 
2. Definitions 
3. Access to information 
4. Proactive disclosure 
5. Punjab Information Commission 
6. Functions of the Commission 
7. Designation of public information officers 
8. Maintenance and indexing of information 
9. Annual report of public bodies 
10. Application procedure 
11. Transfer of application 
12. Internal review 
13. Exceptions 
14. Allocation of funds 
15. Penalty on public information officer 
16. Offence 
17. Cognizance of offence under this Act 
18. Bar of suits etc 
19. Power to make rules 
20. Power to frame regulations 
21. Power to remove difficulties 
22. Interpretation 
23. Indemnity 
24. Act to take precedence over other laws 
25. Repeal 
TEXT 
1
THE PUNJAB TRANSPARENCY AND RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 
2013  
(XXV of 2013) 
[16th December, 2013] 
An 
Act 
to provide for transparency and freedom of information in the Punjab. 
Preamble.– Whereas it is expedient to provide for transparency and freedom of 
information to ensure that citizens have improved access to public information; to 
make the Government more accountable to citizens; to enforce the fundamental right 
of access to information in all matters of public importance; and, to provide for ancillary 
matters; 
It is enacted as follows:– 
1. Short title, extent and commencement .– (1) This Act may be cited as the 
Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013. 
(2) It extends to the whole of the Punjab. 
(3) It shall come into force at once. 
2. Definitions.– In this Act– 
(a) “applicant” means a citizen of Pakistan or a legal person registered or 
incorporated in Pakistan, seeking information under this Act  and 
includes a person authorized on behalf of the legal person; 
(b) “Commission” means Punjab Information Commission established 
under this Act; 
(c) “Commissioner” means an Information Commissioner and includes the 
Chief Information Commissioner; 
(d) “complaint” means a complaint made, in writing, to the Commission by 
an applicant on one or more of the following grounds:- 
(i) wrongful denial of access to information; 
(ii) non provision of information within the stipulated time; 
(iii) refusal to receive and process the request from an applicant; 
(iv) furnishing false, misleading or incomplete information; 
(v) charging fee or cost for provision of information in excess of the 
requisite fee; 
(vi) deliberate destruction of information to avoid its disclosure; 
                                                 
1This Act was passed by the Punjab Assembly on 12 December 2013; assented to by the Governor of the Punjab on 14 
December 2013; and published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary), dated 16 December 2013, pages 1801-1808. 
(vii) failure of a public body to implement the provisions regarding 
proactive disclosure; or 
(viii) violation of any other provision of the Act by a public body; 
(e) “Government” means Government of the Punjab; 
(f) “information” means any information held by a public body and includes 
any memo, book, design, map, contract, representation, pamphlet, 
brochure, order, notification, document, plans, letter, report, accounts 
statement, project proposal, photograph, audio, video, drawing, film, any 
instrument pre pared through electronic process, machine -readable 
documents and any other documentary material regardless of its physical 
form or characteristics; 
(g) “prescribed” means prescribed by the rules or regulations made under 
the Act; 
(h) “public body” means– 
(i) a department, attached department, autonomous or semiautonomous 
body of the Government, a company of the Government or a special 
institution;  
(ii) a local government constituted under the Punjab Local Government 
Act 2013 (XVIII of 2013) or any other law for the time being in force; 
(iii) Secretariat of Governor of the Punjab; 
(iv) any court, tribunal, office, Board, Commission, Council, or other body 
substantially financed by the Government; 
(v) Provincial Assembly of the Punjab; 
(vi) statutory body established under a provincial law; and 
(vii) a non -government organization substantially financed by the 
Government or a local government;  
(i) “public information officer” means a public information officer 
designated under section 7 of the Act; and 
(j) “right to information” means the right to obtain information accessible 
under the Act and includes the right to– 
(i) inspect any work or document;  
(ii) take notes, extracts or certified copy of a document;  
(iii) take certified sample of any material; and 
(iv) obtain copy of information in electronic form.  
3. Access to information .– Subject to the provisions of this Act, an applicant 
may, in the prescribed manner, exercise the right to information. 
4. Proactive disclosure .– Subject to the provisions of this Act, a public body 
shall proactively disclose– 
(a) particulars of the public body, its functions and duties; 
(b) powers and functions of its officers and employees; 
(c) norms and criteria set by the public body for the discharge of its 
functions; 
(d) Acts, Ordinances, rules, regulations, notifications, circulars and other 
legal instruments being enforced, issued or used by the public body in 
the discharge of its functions; 
(e) a statement of categories of information being held by the public body; 
(f) a des cription of its decision -making processes and any opportunities 
for the public to provide input into or be consulted about decisions; 
(g) a directory of its officers and employees with their respective 
remuneration, perks and privileges; 
(h) budget of the public body including details of all proposed and actual 
expenditures; 
(i) amount of subsidy and details of beneficiaries if the public body 
provides any subsidy; 
(j) particulars of the recipients of concessions, permits or authorizations 
granted by the public body; 
(k) facilities available with the public body for obtaining information held by 
it; 
(l) name, designation and other particulars of the public information officer 
of the public body; and 
(m) any other information that the Government may notify in  the official 
Gazette. 
5. Punjab Information Commission .– (1) The Government shall establish a 
Commission, to be called ‘Punjab Information Commission’. 
(2) The Commission shall consist of not more than three Information 
Commissioners to be appointed from amongst the following:– 
(a) a person who has been or is qualified to be a Judge of the High Court; 
(b) a person who is or has been in the service of Pakistan in basic scale 
21 or equivalent; and 
(c) a person from civil society having a degree based on sixt een years of 
education from a recognized institution and experience of not less than 
fifteen years in the field of mass communication, academic or right to 
information. 
(3) The Government shall, on such terms and conditions as may be 
prescribed and until s o prescribed as are determined by the Government, appoint 
the Commissioners. 
(4) The Government shall nominate one of the Commissioners as Chief 
Information Commissioner who shall be the chief executive of the Commission. 
(5) No person shall be appointed as Commissioner if he is more than sixty-
five years of age on the date of appointment. 
2[(6) A Commissioner shall hold office for a term of three years extendable 
for another three years.] 
(7) A Commissioner shall not hold any other public office or any oth er 
office of profit or be connected with any political party and shall not engage himself in 
any business or profession during the period he holds office of the Commissioner. 
(8) Subject to subsections (9), (10) and (11), a Commissioner shall be 
liable to removal on grounds of misconduct or physical or mental incapacity. 
(9) Before removing a Commissioner, the Government shall communicate 
the charges to the Commissioner and afford him reasonable opportunity to explain his 
position. 
(10) If the Government is not satisfied with the defence offered, it may refer 
the case to Provincial Assembly of the Punjab for an open enquiry by a Special 
Committee to be constituted by the Provincial Assembly. 
(11) If the Committee finds the Commissioner guilty of any of the c harges 
mentioned in subsection (8), the Government shall remove the Commissioner. 
(12) If Provincial Assembly of the Punjab is dissolved and the situation 
mentioned in subsection (8) has arisen, the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly shall 
constitute a special committee and such special committee may exercise the powers 
of special committee of the Provincial Assembly until the election of the new 
Provincial Assembly. 
6. Functions of the Commission.– (1) The Commission may– 
(a) conduct an inquiry, on its own accord or on a complaint, and may direct 
a public body to disclose information to an applicant or in a proactive 
manner; 
(b) determine the public interest in terms of section 13; 
(c) resolve any inconsistencies in the application of the provisions of this  
Act or the rules or regulations. 
(2) The Commission shall decide a complaint within thirty days of its 
receipt or, for good reasons to be recorded in writing, within sixty days. 
(3) The Commission may exercise the powers of a civil court to– 
(a) summon an d enforce attendance of persons, compel them to 
give oral or written evidence on oath and to produce documents 
or information; 
(b) examine and inspect information; 
(c) receive evidence on affidavits; 
(d) requisition information from any office; and 
(e) issue summons for witnesses or documents. 
                                                 
2Substituted by the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information (Amendment) Act 2021  (III of 2021), 
published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary), dated:  17th March 2021, pp. 7101-7102 s.2. 
 
3[(4) While inquiring into a complaint, any Commissioner subject to 
distribution of work by Chief Information Commissioner or any other person 
authorized by the Commission, may examine any information on spot.] 
(5) The Commission shall facilitate the application of the provisions of this Act 
and may– 
(a) issue directives to public bodies for preservation, management, 
publication, publicity and access to information; 
(b) prescribe the procedure for accessing information  from a public 
body; 
(c) advise and provide support to the Government to make 
necessary laws and procedures for implementation of the right 
to information; 
(d) provide technical and other support to the public bodies for 
effective enforcement of right to information; 
(e)  conduct training of the public information officers; 
(f) undertake mass awareness campaign to create awareness 
about the Act, rules and regulations; 
(g) establish an information web-portal; 
(h) compile a user handbook in Urdu and English, containing such 
information in easily comprehensible form and manner, as many 
reasonably be required by an applicant; and 
(i) compile guidelines for use by the public information officers. 
4[(6) The Commission shall prepare an annual report on the implementation of 
the provisions of this Act during a financial year by 31 August and shall lay it before 
Provincial Assembly of the Punjab.] 
(7) The annual report of the Commission shall, in particular, contain the 
following information:– 
(a) status of right to information law, rules, regulations and procedures; 
(b) progress on implementation of the freedom of information law, 
including district and department -wise summaries of information 
requests showing current status of each information request; 
(c) hurdles be ing faced in the implementation of freedom of information 
law; and 
(d) budget, expenses and other organizational matters. 
7. Designation of public information officers .– (1) A public body shall, within 
sixty days of the commencement of this Act, designate and notify as many officers 
as public information officers in all administrative units or offices under it, as may be 
necessary. 
                                                 
3Substituted by the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information (Amendment) Act 2021  (III of 2021), 
published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary), dated:  17th March 2021, pp. 7101-7102 s.3. 
 
4Substituted by the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information (Amendment) Act 2021  (III of 2021), 
published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary), dated:  17th March 2021, pp. 7101-7102 s.3. 
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a public information officer shall 
provide information to an applicant, and shall pe rform such other functions as may 
be prescribed to achieve the purpose of this Act. 
(3) The public information officer may seek necessary assistance of any 
other officer of the public body. 
(4) Any officer whose assistance has been sought under subsection (3) 
shall render all assistance to the public information officer seeking his assistance 
and for purposes of any contravention of the provisions of this Act, such other officer 
shall be deemed as public information officer. 
8. Maintenance and indexing of i nformation.– (1) Subject to provisions of this 
Act and the rules or regulations, a public body shall maintain information relating to 
the body in an easily accessible form. 
(2) A public body shall, within the time prescribed by the Commission for 
any speci al or general categories of information, computerize or maintain in 
electronic form the information to enable– 
(a) easy retrieval of information; and 
(b) easy and authorized electronic access of information by an applicant. 
9. Annual report of public bodie s.– A public body shall publish in electronic 
form or otherwise an annual report of its activities under this Act during the previous 
financial year by 31  August each year in such manner as may be prescribed and 
make the report available for public inspect ion free of charge and for purchase at a 
reasonable cost. 
10. Application procedure .– (1) An applicant may make an application to a 
public information officer on an information request form or on plain paper and the 
public information officer shall acknowledge receipt of the application. 
(2) A public body shall make easily available to the public the information 
request form both in printed and electronic form. 
(3) An applicant shall not be required to provide reasons for request for 
information and shall o nly be required to provide an adequate description of the 
information and the details necessary to provide the requisite information. 
(4) Where an applicant is having difficulty making a request, including 
because he cannot describe the information in sufficient detail or because he is disabled 
or illiterate, the concerned public information officer shall provide reasonable assistance 
to the applicant. 
(5) Where an applicant has indicated a preferred form of access, including 
a physical copy, an electronic copy or an opportunity to inspect documents, the 
public body shall provide access in that form unless doing so is likely to interfere with 
its operations or harm the document and in that case the information shall be 
provided in such form as may serve the purpose. 
(6) The public body shall not charge any fee for making a request other 
than cost of reproducing or sending the information in accordance with a centrally set 
schedule of costs stipulated by the Commission. 
(7) The public information officer shall  respond to an application as soon 
as possible and in any case within fourteen working days, provided that this may be 
extended by a maximum of a further fourteen working days where this is necessary, 
including because the request requires a search through  a large number of records 
or consultation with a third party or any other public body, but the public information 
officer shall provide the information relating to life or liberty of a person within two 
working days of the receipt of the application. 
(8) Where the public information officer decides not to provide the 
information, he shall intimate to the applicant the reasons for such decision along with 
a statement that the applicant may file an internal review or a complaint against the 
refusal under this Act. 
(9) The information from, or the copy of, any public record supplied to the 
applicant under subsection (1) shall contain a certificate at the foot thereof that the 
information is correct or the copy is a true copy of such public record, and such 
certificate shall be dated, signed and stamped by the public information officer. 
11. Transfer of application.– (1) Where an officer of a public body other than the 
concerned public information officer receives an application for access to 
information, such o fficer shall immediately transfer the application to the concerned 
public information officer under intimation to the applicant and the public information 
officer shall process the application as if he had received it under section 10. 
(2) If the informati on or part of the information requested in an application 
is not available with the public body or the office of the public body, the public 
information officer shall, within seven days and under intimation to the applicant, 
transfer the application to the  public information officer to whom the application 
should have been made for provision of the information or part of the information. 
(3) If the public information officer does not know the public body or the 
office where the requested information or part  of the information may be available, 
he shall inform the applicant that the requested information or part of the information 
is not available with the public body. 
(4) If an application is transferred to another public information officer 
under subsection (2), the other public information officer shall process the application 
as if the other public information officer received the application under section 10. 
12. Internal review .– (1) If an applicant does not file a complaint with the 
Commission, he may r equest the head of the public body for internal review of any 
decision of the public information officer in relation to what the applicant regards as 
involving– 
(a) a failure by the public information officer to comply with any provision of 
this Act includ ing failure to communicate decision within the specified 
time; or 
(b) unreasonable behaviour by the public information officer in the exercise 
of any discretion under the Act; or 
(c) provision of incomplete, misleading or false information under the Act; 
or 
(d) any other matter relating to requesting or obtaining access to 
information. 
(2) An applicant shall, within sixty days from the date of communication of 
the decision of the public information officer or failure of the public information officer 
to provide information within the stipulated time, submit a request, in writing, under 
subsection (1) and specify remedy which the applicant seeks against the decision of 
the public information officer. 
(3) The officer before whom an application for internal rev iew is filed under 
this section may exercise any of the powers of the public information officer under 
this Act and shall, within fourteen days of the receipt of the application– 
(a) confirm, modify or reverse the decision of the public information officer; 
(b) notify the decision of internal review to the applicant including reasons 
for the decision; and 
(c) order departmental action against the public information officer if found 
negligent in performance of duties under this Act. 
13. Exceptions.– (1) A pu blic information officer may refuse an application for 
access to information where disclosure of the information shall or is likely to cause 
harm to– 
(a) national defence or security, public order or international relations of 
Pakistan; 
(b) a legitimate pr ivacy interest, unless the person concerned has 
consented to disclosure of the information; 
(c) the protection of legally privileged information or of the rules relating to 
breach of confidence; 
(d) the legitimate commercial interests of a public body or a  third party, 
including information subject to third party intellectual property rights; 
(e) the life, health or safety of any person;  
(f) the prevention or detection of crime, the apprehension or prosecution 
of offenders, or the administration of justice; 
(g) the ability of the Government to manage the economy; or 
(h) the effective formulation of or success of a policy either by its premature 
disclosure or by restraining the free and frank provision of advice within 
the Government. 
(2) Notwithstanding any thing contained in subsection (1), if the 
Commission determines that the public interest in such disclosure outweighs the 
harm that shall or is likely to be caused by such disclosure, it may direct the public 
information officer to provide the information. 
(3) Where a part of a document is covered by an exception in subsection 
(1), any information in the document which is not covered by an exception shall be 
disclosed if it is reasonably severable from the rest of the document. 
(4) Where the information is refused, the public information officer shall, 
within the time-limit specified under section 10, inform the applicant specifying– 
(a) the reasons on account of which and the provision of this Act under 
which the requested information is refused; 
(b) procedure for internal review or complaint against the decision; and 
(c) name and designation of the person who may provide full or limited 
access to the exempted information. 
(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, any information 
mentioned in s ubsection (1) may be disclosed by a public information officer if the 
information is more than fifty years old but the Commission may, in an appropriate 
case on application of a public body or otherwise, extend this time period of fifty 
years to a further twenty years. 
14. Allocation of funds .– The Government shall allocate adequate funds to the 
Commission to enable it to establish a secretariat, hire the requisite staff to conduct 
its business properly, and promote access to information among the public, p ublic 
servants and civil society. 
15. Penalty on public information officer .– Where a public information officer 
has, without any reasonable cause, refused to receive an application, has not 
furnished information within time limits, or malafidely denied the request or knowingly 
gave incorrect, incomplete or misleading information, the Commission may, after 
providing sufficient opportunity of defense to the public information officer, direct  the 
public information officer to pay fine not exceeding two days’  salary for each day of 
delay or to pay fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees. 
16. Offence.– In addition to any other action under any other law, any person 
who destroys a record which at the time it was destroyed was the subject of an 
application for access to information, internal review or complaint, or otherwise 
obstructs access to information which is the subject of an application, internal review 
or complaint, with the intention of preventing its disclosure under this Act, commits 
an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years 
or with fine which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees or with both. 
17. Cognizance of offence under this Act.– A court shall not take cognizance of 
the offence punishable under s ection 16 of this Act except on a report in writing of 
the facts constituting such offence made with the previous sanction of the 
Commission or an officer authorized by the Commission. 
18. Bar of suits etc .– A court shall not entertain a suit, application or other 
proceeding in respect of any decision made under this Act and the decision shall not 
be called in question otherwise than by way of an internal review or a complaint 
under the Act. 
19. Power to make rules .– (1) The Government, in consultation with  the 
Commission and by notification in the official Gazette, may make rules for carrying 
out the purposes of this Act. 
(2) The rules shall also provide elaboration of the following provisions of 
this Act:– 
(a) procedure for proper maintenance, indexing and storage of information, 
including details of information to be published in an electronic form; 
(b) procedure for filing of request for information and a schedule of the 
costs for providing the information; 
(c) handling and internal review mechanisms; 
(d) information that shall be included in the annual report of each public 
body; 
(e) procedure for publishing, displaying and obtaining the annual report; 
(f) designation of public information officers, and if required, any other 
official delegates, and their duties and responsibilities; 
(g) procedure for removal of a Commissioner, including definition of 
misconduct; 
(h) finances, budgeting and staffing related to the Commission and its 
secretariat; 
(i) responsibilities of Commissioners, mechanism for taking d ecisions, 
quorum requirements and procedures in case of non -availability of one 
or more Commissioners; 
(j) provisions regarding imposition of penalties or fines; and 
(k) any fees that may be charged by a public body in carrying out the 
provisions of this Act. 
20. Power to frame regulations.– Subject to this Act and the rules, the Commission 
may, by notification, frame regulations to give effect to the provisions of the Act and the 
rules. 
21. Power to remove difficulties .– If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the 
provisions of this Act, the Government may, by order in the official Gazette, make 
such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as appear to it to be 
necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty. 
22. Interpretation.– This Act, the rules and regulations shall be interpreted so as 
to advance the purposes of this Act and to facilitate and encourage, promptly and at 
the lowest reasonable cost, the disclosure of information and effective 
implementation of right to information. 
23. Indemnity.– No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against 
any person for anything which is done in good faith or intended to be done in 
pursuance of this Act or any rules or regulations made under the Act. 
24. Act to take prece dence over other laws .– (1) The provisions of this Act 
shall take precedence over the provisions of any other law. 
(2) An exception mentioned in section 13 shall take precedence and any 
exception or limitation in any other law on right to information may n ot be construed 
to extend the scope of the exception in this Act, although such provision in other law 
may elaborate on the exception mentioned in section 13. 
25. Repeal.– The Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Ordinance (IV of 
2013) is hereby repealed.