ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) has ruled that the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) is a public body under the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017, and ordered it to provide the requested information within 15 days.
The order was passed in the appeal titled Saddia Mazhar vs Pakistan Bar Council by Chief Information Commissioner Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui and Information Commissioner Ijaz Hassan Awan.
The applicant had sought information in eight categories. These included province-wise figures of PBC members or licence holders, details of those who had submitted attested degrees, names or numbers of lawyers whose licences were cancelled for not submitting attested educational documents, and those whose licences were cancelled over fake degrees.
She also requested copies of circulars and notifications related to degree attestation, details of federal and provincial government grants received since 2020 along with amounts and dates, and a copy of the latest minutes of the PBC Governing Body meeting.
Before the Commission, the PBC maintained that it was an autonomous statutory body that generated its own funds and did not come within the definition of a public body. Its representatives argued that the government had neither financial nor administrative control over it. However, they acknowledged that the Attorney General for Pakistan is an ex officio member of the Council.
The Commission rejected the PBC’s stance. It held that the Council was a statutory organisation created under the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973, and performed significant public functions concerning legal education, recognition of law degrees and regulation of legal practitioners.
The PIC also noted that Bar Councils receive public funds or government grants and that their offices are situated in public buildings.
The Commission ruled that the PBC falls within the definition of a public body under Section 2(ix)(g) and (h) of the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017. It further observed that none of the eight requests for information attracted any exemption under the law.
The Secretary, Pakistan Bar Council, was directed to provide the information sought within 15 days of receiving the order. The matter was adjourned until September 2, 2026.
