ISLAMABAD: The Government of Punjab has removed all three members of the Punjab Information Commission (PIC) on February 13, 2023, The Reporters learnt.
The Chief Information Commissioner, Mahboob Qadir Shah, and Information Commissioners Shaukat Ali and Dr. Arif Mushtaq were de-notified with immediate effect by the Information and Culture Department of Punjab, on the directions of the Chief Minister.
However, the notification regarding the de-notification of Information Commissioner Mr. Shaukat Ali was later withdrawn on February 14, 2023.
Mr. Mahboob Qadir Shah, who was appointed as Chief Information Commissioner, PIC on May 09, 2018, was given a three-year extension on June 18, 2021, after an amendment in the law.
On the other hand, Dr. Arif Mushtaq was appointed as Information Commissioner on January 21, 2022.
It is worth noting that the government has not followed the procedure outlined in “The Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2013” for the removal of the information commissioners. The procedure for the removal of the members of the information commission is defined in Section 5(8) to 5(12) of the act.
