New Delhi: The National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi expressing concern about the vacancies in the central information commission (CIC).
“NCPRI is extremely concerned to note that the Central Information Commission (CIC) is functioning with only the Chief Information Commissioner and two information commissioners. Eight posts of information commissioners are lying vacant, even as the backlog of appeals/complaints currently stands at nearly 23,000 and is steadily increasing,” the letter dated July 26, 2024 said.
Prime minister Modi is the chairperson of the selection committee, set up under Section 12(3) of the RTI Act, 2005, tasked with appointing information commissioners. Gandhi, as the Lok Sabha LoP, is also a member of the committee.
“It is extremely worrying that for several months the CIC has been functioning at a reduced capacity. This negates the very purpose of the RTI Act, which is to ensure time-bound access to information,” the letter said.
The NCPRI has also written to the chief ministers and LoPs of 12 states regarding vacancies in their state information commissions (SICs).
Five SICs are lying completely defunct. These include Jharkhand (since May 2020), Telangana (since February 2023), Tripura (since July 2021), Madhya Pradesh And Goa (since March 2024), NCPRI pointed out in its letter.
Several other information commissions are functioning with a large number of vacant posts despite having a significant backlog of appeals and complaints.
Karnataka’s SIC, functioning with only three commissioners and no chief, is facing a backlog of more than 40,000 cases. In Bihar, the SIC is operating with just two commissioners and a backlog of nearly 28,000 cases. The Chhattisgarh and West Bengal SIC have 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, have a backlog of around 9,000 cases each, while the Maharashtra SIC, functioning with six commissioners, is grappling with a significant backlog of more than 1 lakh cases, the rights group pointed out.
‘RTI becoming a dead letter’: Supreme Court
In October 2023, while hearing an application regarding vacancies in information commissions, the Supreme Court noted that “the state governments by failing to fill up the vacancies are ensuring that the right to information which is recognised under an Act of Parliament becomes a dead letter.” The court had directed “all states and the Union government to immediately take steps for filling up the vacancies in the posts of Information Commissioners in the SICs and CIC respectively”.
“In its February 2019 judgment, the Supreme Court observed that to ensure effective implementation of the Right to Information Act, it is imperative to have properly functioning information commissions with an adequate number of commissioners in accordance with the workload. The court had directed the Union and state governments to ensure timely and transparent appointment of information commissioners,” NCPRI said.
The RTI law is one of the most empowering legislations for the citizens of the country. It is used extensively by people, especially the poor and marginalised, to access information about their rights. Under the RTI Act, information commissions are the final appellate authority and are mandated to safeguard and ensure the practical realisation of people’s fundamental right to information, the letter notes.
“We urge you to ensure that the vacancies in the Central Information Commission are filled immediately by appointing information commissioners. Further, it must be ensured that the appointments are made in a transparent manner as per the directions given by the Supreme Court in its February 2019 judgment,” it added.
The letter has been endorsed by former CIC Shailesh Gandhi and prominent activists Anjali Bhardwaj, Nikhil Dey, Venkatesh Nayak and Rakesh Reddy Dubbudu among others.
