Over the last two decades, I have frequently used the Right to Information (RTI) law and interacted with the RTI commissions in Pakistan. This article is based on a collective study of over 200 RTI requests and their subsequent appeals made to RTI commissions by citizens seeking legitimate information from public bodies. The aim was to understand the extent to which the Information Commissions uphold the citizens' right to information and their ability to ensure compliance when the public bodies fail to provide the requested information.

The conclusions of the above study regarding the performance of the Information Commissions can be summed up as follows.

The Commissions: a) frequently caused long delays in appeals, often extending beyond two months; b) showed tendencies to favour public bodies, either as a gesture of appeasement or perhaps under political influence; c) were extremely reluctant to penalise public bodies; d) often delayed cases due to their own bureaucratic working processes; e) failed to learn from the best........

© The Express Tribune