SAYYED MAZAHAR ALI AKBAR NAQVI, J.---Through this constitutional petition filed in terms of Article 199 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, following prayer has been made by the petitioner: "...In view of the above, it is humbly prayed as under: i. Declare that impugned proceedings through Pakistan Citizen's Portal (Web) on anonymous complaints are void ab initio, illegal without lawful authority and the same may be quashed ii. Declare that act of the respondent No.1 to launch/formation/ promulgation of Pakistan Citizen's Portal is without backing of law, without lawful jurisdiction, unconstitutional, undermining the authority of the parliament and in derogation of the fundamental right as protected under the constitution. iii. Meanwhile the respondents may kindly be restrained to process the anonymous complaints through Pakistan Citizen's Portal (PCP) against the petitioner till final decision of the case Any other relief deemed suitable to the peculiar facts of this case may also be afforded to the Petitioner . ".
2. At the very outset, it has been contended by learned counsel for the petitioner that petitioner is serving as Professor of Surgery at Allama lqbal Medical College, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore and Principal of Allama lqbal Medical College, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore issued office order dated 05.08.2019 and Constituted a committee and petitioner was designated as Chairman of the committee including two senior members to look after the matters/issues of House Officers in Jinnah Hospital Lahore. Further contends that the petitioner while holding inquiry regarding issuance of paid orders of graduates of private medical colleges in violation of the policy of the Government of the Punjab faced different threats from Dr. Shabbir Ahmad Ch. Leader of Young Doctor Association and same were communicated to respondent Nos.4 and 5. It is submitted that on 06.10.2019, an anonymous application was filed through Pakistan Citizen's Portal against the petitioner to damage the respect in institution and the name of the complainants was not mentioned in the complaint and this complaint routed through the office of Secretary reached in the office of Principal, Allama lqbal Medical College, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. Further contends that numbers of complaints were filed by unknown complainant on the same allegations for blackmailing the petitioner through Pakistan Citizen's Portal. It is submitted that the petitioner approached the respondents Nos.3 and 4 to provide the name of complainants to initiate the civil and criminal proceedings against the complainants for wrongful act but the respondents have shown their nakedness to access the name of complainants from web portal policy matter .
Further contends that most of the applicants are misusing Pakistan Citizen's Portal (PCP) to defame public functionaries and even anonymous applications with fake and false complaints/are being submitted through this app against the public servants and under the umbrella of Pakistan Citizen's Portal (PCP) as such a new tradition of anonymous applications in Pakistan have been started and now justice and relief is being delivered against the alleged accused without disclosing the name of complainant in violation of the mandate of Articles 4 and 9 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973. Lastly it is submitted that the proceedings through Web Portal on the basis of anonymous complaints are liable to be cancelled/set aside.
3. On the other hand, learned Attorney General for Pakistan assisted by Additional Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General for Pakistan opposes this petition. It is submitted that Pakistan Citizen's Portal is a complaint/grievance redressal platform in the shape of a Government-owned Mobile Application (Available on both Android and iOS) and is being used as a tool to promote citizen-Centric particip atory governance in relation to, public affairs and grievance of the citizen and on citizen's side, it provides a nation -wide window to connect people with Government Organization at all levels for raising their issue with authorities for their timely resolution on merits and on Government's side, it helps to promote the culture of quantified performance management and make the various government entities accountable for their mandated roles and responsibilities. Further contends that no anonymous applications/complaints can be lodged through Pakistan Citizen's Portal (PCP) and all citizens are properly registered into Portal by requisitioning certain mandatory information and as per the privacy clause of the User's Guideline Manual i.e. 3.2 page No.20, the credentials of the complaint are required to be kept confidential if marked hidden by the complainants to avoid harassment of the complainants. Lastly , it is prayed that the instant writ petition is not maintainable and liable to be dismissal.
4. Arguments advanced pro and contra have been heard and available record perused.
5. There is no cavil to this proposition that Pakistan Citizen's Portal 2018 has been formed in terms of Rule 3(3) provided in item No.28 of Schedule II of the Rules of Business, 1973 as amended from time to time and the Rules of Business are the Rules framed under Articles 90 and 99 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 and it is a government owned mobile Application (available on both Android and iOs). It is noticed that the Prime Minister's Performance Delivery Unit (PMDU) established in 2013 has been reorganized with a new vision to promote citizen centric and participatory governance. The primary objective of the unit is to provide citizen's an opportunity to seamlessly communicate with all government entities and have their issue resolved with priority , in accordance with the vision of the Government. The web portal i.e. Pakistan Citizen's Portal is not competent to proceed in any matter/complaint as it is only a platform for the citizens to raise their issue with concerned authorities and the authorities are bound to deal it as per their applicable laws/ rules/ regulations. For the purpose of technical guidance, complaint handling techniques and answering the frequently asked questions (FAQs), User's 'Guidelines Manual has been circulated. As per report submitted by the respondents, no anonymous application/complaint can be lodged through Pakistan Citizen's Portal (PCP) and all citizens are properly registered into the Portal by requisitioning certain mandatory information i.e. name, CNIC, Mobile Number and no one can be registered without mandatory informatio n and the complaint after being lodged is routed by the system to concerned authority for necessary action under the relevant law/ rules/regulations of the organization, however , as per complaint handling manual, every registered member/citizen on Pakistan Citize n's Portal has the liberty to hide or restrict his/her identity with regard to the contents of the complaint being lodged. However , members with un- hidden profile(s) shall also be kept confidential to the maximum extent possible until otherwise required in the best interest of the complainant and fair determination of the complaint. The only facility available to the complainant that the said person can hide his/her name on the complaint but it does not mean that the portal operator/the Federal Government would not have the identity of that person. As per Pakistan Citizen's Portal (PCP) User's Guideline Manual for complaints and suggestions any complaint upon its first arrival at the dashboard (either from the citizen's side or as a result of forwarding) will get placement under the icon of the new complaints. It will remain there until it is opened for some comments or further processing. The assigned timeline of only complaint either received directly from the citizen or forwarded by any organization will start at this stage. In case of forwarding from any other dashboard, none of the complaints will carry the baggage of time delay rather it will be treated as fresh arrival on the target dashboard. All the complaints are traceable and there is no anonymous person on this portal and the summery of the statistics regarding Pakistan Citizen Portal is as follow:- Total registered members: 1,301,621 Total complaints lodged: 1,457,938 Resolved complaints: 1,290,985 Citizen' s satisfaction leval: 41% It is noticed that Pakistan Citizen's Portal is an ICT-based platform, which only serves the purpose to prove a cheap and accessible medium to the registere d members/general public to raise their grievance to the Government organization for its resolution under their laid down rules/regulations/procedure and policies. The citizens lodged their complaints by selecting the relevant category of the complaint/ grievance which are forwarded to the concerned authorities by the system for necessary action at their end and no anonymous complaint/ application can be lodged. In case the complainant's profile is hidden, the authority can send a request to the complainant via system to unveil the required informatio n regarding his/her profile within 48 hours. However , this request is permissible in cases where in disclosure of complainant's profile is inevitable for processing and resolution. There is no transgression of power , misuse of authority committed contrary to the Rule of Business and User' .s Guidelines Manual.
6. In view of the facts and circumstances narrated above and for the foregoing reasons, the petition in hand being patently devoid of any force is hereby dismissed .