On October 3, former Chief Information Commissioner Y.K. Sinha’s retirement, no one has been appointed for more than a month, which has been criticized by many including the Supreme Court. It is comforting that Samaria is now appointed by Hiral.
In 2005, the Right to Information Act was passed to ensure transparency in administration and to provide the right to information to the common citizen. The Right to Information Act was the most important reason why many corruptions and malpractices came to light in the early period. Not only was the common citizen empowered by that law, but the officials and ministries were also forced to take responsibility for their actions.
Both the previous Manmohan Singh government and the current Narendra Modi government are working in a way that gradually dilutes the Right to Information Act and paralyzes the functions of Information Commissions. Mainly, the reluctance of higher authorities to question the Information Commissioners about their activities is the most important reason for the shutdown of the Information Commissioners. In many states, information commissioners are not filled and their activities are at a standstill.
The case filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan on behalf of social activist Anjali Bharadwaj in the Supreme Court regarding information commissions came up for discussion 10 days ago. Chief Justice DY Chandra Chute, Justices J.P. Parthiwala, the post of Central Information Commissioner, which was left vacant as a result of the question raised by Manoj Mishra Sessions in the case, has been filled within a week. But the problem does not end there.
There are 7 more commissioners to be filled in the Central Information Commission. As 4 Po retires from this month, their places should also be filled. If the Central Information Commission is like this, the situation of the State Commissions is even worse.
In the state of Jharkhand, the State Information Commission is not functioning from May 2020 as the posts of 11 commissioners are not filled. The Tripura State Commission from July 2021 and the Telangana State Commission from last February are paralyzed as no Information Commissioner has been appointed.
The Maharashtra Information Commission continues to have a backlog of 1,15,000 appeals and petitions with only 4 Commissioners functioning without a Chief Commissioner. In Telangana, 10,000 appeals are awaiting the commission’s decision.
Despite more than 40,000 appeals in Karnataka, the commission is functioning with 6 posts unfilled. The state commissions are working in a dire situation where 12,000 appeals are handled by 3 commissioners in West Bengal, 16,000 appeals by 3 commissioners in Odisha and 8,000 appeals by 2 commissioners in Bihar.
This is not the first time that the Supreme Court has intervened and condemned the government. It ordered that all the posts of commissioners in the central and state information commissions should be filled without delay in 2019. It also recommended that two months before the retirement of a commissioner, the process of appointing the next commissioner should begin. The unfilled posts of commissioners found in central and state information commissions show that neither the government nor the officials are concerned about it.
The Right to Information Act, which was brought in with a noble purpose, made the international community wonder about Indian democracy and its mechanism for ensuring transparency in the governance of the Indian government. The Right to Information Act has helped in securing fundamental rights and making essential services available to people in a systematic manner.
The role of Right to Information Act was important in exposing irregularities related to Aadhaar residence, Commonwealth Games, Vyapam etc. in the early period. Because of this, the rulers have been gradually trying to weaken this law and have succeeded to some extent.
Information Commissioners are the backbone of the Right to Information Act. Commissioner posts should be fully filled for those commissions to get information. Most of the State Information Commissions have been converted into employment agencies for retired officers.
If this continues, the question posed by the sitting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court may become true – is the Right to Information Act being closed?
