Islamabad:
A lawyer has approached the Superior Court of Lahore (LHC), looking for instructions for the Supreme Court Registrar to provide details about the “Fundamental Rights Monument” recently established and inaugurated within the APEX Court facilities.
The project began during the mandate of the former president of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa.
The petitioner Abuzar Salman Khan Niazi presented the writing request in the LHC, appointing the SC registration as the defendant. A single member bank, led by Judge Shams Mehmood Mirza, is ready to listen to the request on Monday (today).
According to the petition, the petitioner had approached the SC registration twice to obtain the relevant information, but did not receive an answer.
He had looked for answers to six registrar questions about the project.
The first question belonged to the process adopted to sanction the project. The second asked about the authority responsible for granting approval. The third sought clarification about the law, the rule or regulation under which the project was sanctioned.
The fourth question referred to the company or company involved in design and architecture services, while the fifth focused on the procedure followed to acquire these services.
Meanwhile, the sixth question asked about the company or company hired for construction and development, together with the total cost of the project.
The petition argues that article 3 of the Constitution imposes a duty on state and public officials to eliminate all forms of exploitation. The refusal to provide the requested information constitutes a violation of this constitutional obligation.
The petition establishes that article 3 of the Constitution imposes a positive duty on the State by public extension officials to guarantee the elimination of all forms of exploitation instead of a discretion to act or not act. “Therefore, the defendant’s refusal to provide the requested information constitutes a shameless violation of article 3 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”
He maintains that the higher courts, in the Catena of judicial pronouncements, have emphasized that having access to information is a justifiable right of people and emphasized even more than all the information that can be of any public importance must be available to the general public.
The petition establishes that it is a matter of public importance that helps the process of equity, responsibility and transparency; Therefore, the people of Pakistan have the right to know above all the registration of the ‘Fundamental Rights Monument’ established and opened recently in the SC.
However, the respondent has not been able to provide the required information, the petition argued.
“That right to information and access to information in all matters of public importance is indisputably a fundamental right guaranteed under articles 19 and 19-A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973.”
He maintains that this right emanated from the fundamental democratic principle that members of a representative society must be properly informed to allow them to make well -reasoned and intelligent decisions regarding matters that affect their rights and interests.
“Therefore, the people of Pakistan have the right to know each public act, everything that is done publicly, for their public officials and representatives.”
