LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) held that right to information (RTI) does not extend to any legitimate privacy interest and request for provision of information can validly be withheld which violates the privacy of an individual.
The court passed this order in an Intra Court Appeal (ICA) of a citizen Shahbaz and burdened the appellant with special cost of rupees one million.
The court held that the amount of special cost should be recovered as decree in favour of the respondent department.
The court said that the single bench has rightly allowed the constitutional petition of the respondent department; however, the Punjab Information Commission passed the order in blatant excess of its jurisdiction, the court added.
The court said the appellant made request for getting information qua disclosure of names of taxpayers and information regarding their properties but imparting of requisite information is subject to an unambiguous consent of said individuals; otherwise, the request could validly be regretted under Section 13 (1) (b) of the Act, the court added.
The court observed that the privacy directly relates to an individual’s personal life, such as his name, address, phone number, family details, medical history, financial status; etc., which has validly been safeguarded in almost every law, the court added.
The court said that any legitimate privacy interest of an individual is protected under the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act and it can be withheld under Section 13 (1) (b) of the Act.
The court said the right to information is primarily intended to give access to the citizen to the information gathered and maintained by public authorities to ensure that government is functioning in a transparent manner and accountable to the people it serves.
The court; however, observed that the provisions of the Act gives the power to public information officer to refuse the application for access to information where such disclosure of information is likely to harm the legitimate privacy or interest of individual unless the person concerned has consented to disclosure of information.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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