Some RTI appeal bodies defunct, others burdened with large backlogs: Report

The Right to Information advocacy group Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS)’s annual assessment found that seven State-level information commissions were non-functioning for at least some time over the last year.

The Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) said in an assessment of State Information Commissions (SICs) that four have become completely “defunct,” with no commissioners to hear appeals under the Right to Information Act, 2005. This essentially makes appeals of responses to RTI applications to four State governments — Jharkhand, Tripura, Telangana, and Goa — essentially infructuous until commissioners are appointed.

Also read:Why are India’s Information Commission posts vacant? | Explained

Jharkhand’s State Information Commission has been defunct for four years. In spite of the vacancies in that commission being brought to notice annually, and mentioned before the Supreme Court, nobody has been appointed to the Jharkhand SIC. Tripura’s SIC has similarly been defunct for three years. Telangana’s SIC has been defunct for 19 months. Goa’s SIC has been defunct since March following the retirement of the Chief Information Commissioner of that body.

“The absence of a chief information commissioner has serious ramifications for the effective functioning of the ICs since the RTI Act envisages a critical role for the Chief, including superintendence, management and direction of the affairs of the information commission,” the SNS said in its report. Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Odisha’s SICs are currently functioning without a chief. 

Huge backlog

Both at the Central Information Commission (CIC) and SICs, there are massive backlogs, meaning RTI appeals can take months, if not years, to be heard and ruled on. Maharashtra tops the list in this regard, with 1,08,641 appeals and complaints pending for hearing. Using the monthly rate of disposal, SNS estimates that Chhattisgarh would take over five years to dispose of an appeal, with Bihar and Odisha taking four and a half and four years respectively.

Even the CIC, though staffed with information commissioners and a chief, has an effective waiting period for hearing of one year and four months. 

Even the statutorily required annual report to be submitted by the SICs has not been carried out. While the Andhra Pradesh SIC has not submitted any report at all since at least the bifurcation of the erstwhile State, most SICs have not submitted an annual report to the State legislature for years, and some that have, did not post this report online. 

Published - October 12, 2024 12:03 pm IST