New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (January 7) directed the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to file an affidavit within two weeks, specifying the timeline within which the vacant posts at the Central Information Commission (CIC) will be filled.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh were hearing the matter regarding vacancies at the CIC and various State Information Commissions (SICs).
The court noted that of the ten sanctioned posts for information commissioners at the CIC, only two have been filled, while various SICs are lying defunct, even as the backlog of appeals and complaints are increasing.
The court gave time-bound directions to the Union and state governments to make appointments of an adequate number of commissioners.
In its directive to the DoPT, the court also specified that candidates who had not applied in response to the government’s advertisement shall not be offered appointments.
In response to an RTI query filed by transparency activist Lokesh Batra, the DoPT in July 2024 had said that the information of the applicants will be tabulated and sent to a search committee constituted by the prime minister.
The court on Tuesday directed the Union government to disclose the members of the search committee and the list of candidates who have applied as per its earlier directions.
Vacancies at SICs
The court noted that the Jharkhand SIC has been non-functional for more than 4 years and directed the state government to complete the appointment process for ICs within 9 weeks from the date of the order.
According to the affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Jharkhand government had called for applications to fill the post of CIC and six ICs in June last year and received 37 applications.
However, the selection process could not commence as after the assembly elections in the state in November 2024, a leader of opposition (LoP) was not appointed. LoPs are members of the selection committee that appoint ICs.
Also read: ‘Vacant Posts, Backlogs at Information Commissions Extremely Concerning’: Activists Write to Govt
The court has therefore ordered the largest opposition party in the Jharkhand legislative assembly to nominate one of its elected members as a member of the selection committee.
For other states, where the selection process has commenced, the following directions have been given:
- The list of the applicants shall be notified within one week;
- The composition of the search committee along with the criteria prescribed for shortlisting applicants shall be notified within one week thereafter;
- The timeline within which the interviews shall be completed be notified. This shall not be more than six weeks from the date of notification of composition of the search committee and the criteria for shortlisting applicants;
- On receipt of the recommendations, the competent authority shall scrutinize and make appointments within two weeks.
Chief secretaries of all states have been directed to file compliance affidavits. The court has also asked for the details of vacant posts and cases pending before each commission in the country.
The case is listed for hearing on March 4, 2025.
Backlogs
In July last year, the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI) had written to Prime Minister Modi, Rahul Gandhi and the chief ministers and LoPs of 12 states over vacancies and case backlogs in various information commissions.
In its letter, the NCPRI had noted that five SICs were lying completely defunct. These were Jharkhand (since May 2020), Telangana (since February 2023), Tripura (since July 2021), Madhya Pradesh and Goa (since March 2024).
The letter also noted that more than 23,000 cases were pending at the CIC and this number was even higher at several SICs
Karnataka’s SIC, functioning with only three commissioners and no chief, was facing a backlog of more than 40,000 cases. In Bihar, the SIC was operating with just two commissioners and a backlog of nearly 28,000 cases. The Chhattisgarh and West Bengal SIC had only two commissioners each and a backlog of about 17,500 and 10,000 cases respectively.
Rajasthan and Punjab SICs, both down to a single commissioner, had a backlog of around 9,000 cases each, while the Maharashtra SIC, functioning with six commissioners, was grappling with a significant backlog of more than 1 lakh cases, the rights group had pointed out.
