iCOM case over secrecy not against govt, Heena says

The Information Commissioner’s Office (iCOM)’s criminal complaint filed against the President’s Office for failing to provide information under the Right to Information Act is not related to this government, the President’s Office spokesperson Heena Waleed has said.

The case iCOM had sent to the Prosecutor General's office was from 2022, when someone asking for vaccination details was denied in the former government.

In an X post on Tuesday, Heena said it was a case that was submitted long before the start of this government and was denied information at the time. She did not say anything else.

The prosecutor on Monday referred the case to the police for an investigation into whether it involved a criminal offence.

Successive governments have the right to disclose information that has been kept secret in previous governments.

This government on Monday defended the former government’s decision in the Supreme Court to withhold the information regarding former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's trip to the United States. This drew a lot of criticism from the public.

While Heena said that the case filed with the prosecutor general is not related to this government, there have been a lot of complaints about this government not providing information sought under RTI and not attending hearings of cases filed with iCOM in connection with it.

In addition, the issue of non-disclosure of information about political employees under the Right to Information Act has also become very serious.

The President’s Office has not provided the information despite various requests for details of political positions, and many such cases have been filed with iCOM after the statutory deadline.

iCOM has repeatedly asked the President's Office to disclose information. However, the government has not complied.