Today, the Supreme Court criticized the delay in filling Information Commission vacancies and instructed the DoPT to create a vacancy chart. They urged immediate action from the Centre and States to address this issue.
The Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, presided over a case addressing the significant vacancies within information commissions established under the RTI Act.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioners, highlighted that despite the 2019 Supreme Court judgment, vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC) and various State Information Commissions (SICs) remained unfilled. This situation has resulted in a backlog of cases and significant delays in addressing appeals and complaints.
State governments' inability to appoint Information Commissioners undermines the intent of the RTI Act, rendering the right to information ineffective when vacancies remain unfilled.
Hence, the Supreme Court ordered the DoPT to create a vacancy chart, and it mandated the Central and state governments to promptly address these vacancies. Additionally, the court instructed all states to initiate the process of filling these positions by issuing necessary notifications without delay.
During the proceedings, the petitioners presented the status of vacancies for each commission as follows:
• The Central Information Commission (CIC) is operating without a Chief and has 7 vacancies, with only 4 commissioners in service. All 4 commissioners are scheduled to retire by November 6, 2023, rendering the CIC non-functional.
• The Maharashtra State Information Commission (SIC) is currently lacking a Chief and operating with just 4 commissioners, despite a backlog of over 115,000 appeals/complaints.
• The Jharkhand State Information Commission (SIC) has been entirely non-operational since May 2020, with no new appeals or complaints being registered or resolved for the past three years.
• The Tripura State Information Commission (SIC) has remained inactive for over 2 years, starting from July 2021.
• The Telangana State Information Commission (SIC) has been non-functional since February 2023, despite having over 10,000 pending appeals and complaints.
• The Karnataka State Information Commission (SIC) is operational with 5 commissioners, while 6 positions remain vacant. The commission is currently dealing with a backlog of over 40,000 pending appeals and complaints.
• The West Bengal State Information Commission (SIC) is currently functioning with 3 commissioners and faces a backlog of approximately 12,000 pending appeals and complaints.
The petitioners were represented by Advocates Prashant Bhushan and Rahul Gupta. The petitioners in the matter are Anjali Bhardwaj, Commodore Lokesh Batra
TAGS: Central Information Commission (CIC) Maharashtra State Information Commission (SIC) Jharkhand State Information Commission (SIC) Tripura State Information Commission (SIC) Telangana State Information Commission (SIC)
