Withholding information an offense, jail term for Information Officer: Shameem

The former Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem has said that officers withholding information against orders of the Information Commissioner is a criminal offense punishable with jail term.

Shameem said this in his blog, writing on the topic of withholding of information, refusal to obey orders of the Information Commissioner, and the legal repercussions of obstructing journalists from acquiring information.

Under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, government bodies get a period of 21 days to respond to applications submitted acquiring for information and on extraordinary or exceptional circumstances, information should be provided within 14 days. Failure to provide information within this period would be deemed as “deliberate withholding of information.”

If a government body fails to provide information under RTI within the mandated duration, the case should be lodged with the Information Commissioner. The RTI Act also extends authority to the Information Commissioner, deeming the decisions or rulings of the commissioner is equivalent to the judgements delivered to that of lower courts, and adherence to the commissioner’s rulings is mandatory to the government body in question.

The commissioner’s decision can be appealed at the High Court within 30 days from the date of the ruling.

Should 45 days elapse from the date of the commissioner’s ruling and the government body fails to comply or appeal the ruling, then the commissioner has authority to submit the case to the Prosecutor General’s Office to press criminal charges.

The RTI Act further stipulates that any individual acting in a manner to obstruct, hinder, or divert achieving the objectives of law enforcement is committing a criminal offense which is punishable with a jail term of four months and 24 days.

If the offense was committed by an individual holding a senior government position, the punishment may be severe with possibility of extending the period of imprisonment to a maximum of one year.

Shameem further said that there is no legal objection to launch investigation and press charges if a government body either fails to provide, or provides information at a date later than the mandated.

“Civil Service employees responsible with disseminating information should be cautious of this since they are the ones who would be investigated, taken to law enforcement custody, and spend time in jail.”

Shameem in his blog post further noted that concealment of information by a government will enhance corruption, and added that the countries aiming to improve their positions in the global corruption index have a culture of revealing information. The former PG noted that withholding of information would increase acts of corruption while undermining state administration.

There have been several recent instances of non-compliance by government bodies in providing information as per the RTI Act.

In August, the Information Commissioner’s Office expressed concern highlighting several government agencies were not complying to the law. Additionally, the Ministry of Housing was fined with MVR 350 for failing to appear to a hearing of the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The ministry in response said the incident occurred due to the negligence of one of its employees, and added that relevant action according to the Civil Service Regulation had been taken towards the individual.