Central Information Commission posts remain vacant; SC informed about rising backlog of appeals, complaints

Hyderabad: In a case regarding the lack of information commissioners, the Supreme Court was told that despite directions of the court, vacant posts in the Central Information Commission (CIC) have not been filled.

The Supreme Court bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Bagchi heard the case on Monday.

No CIC since September

The petitioners were represented by advocates Prashant Bhushan and Rahul Gupta.

Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, pointed out that the CIC has been without a chief since September 14.

Out of 10 posts of information commissioners, eight are vacant, the court was told.

States too facing persistent vacancies

The backlog of cases in the CIC is now 30,134.

Further, it was pointed out that even in states, vacancies in the posts persist. A state-wise table showing the number of sanctioned posts and the number of vacancies was handed over.

In states, also, despite large backlogs, several posts of commissioners are lying vacant. The

Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh SICs are completely defunct, with all posts of commissioners, including the chief, lying vacant.

Huge backlog and long delays in disposal of appeals and complaints

People’s Right to Information is being frustrated due to the failure of governments to fill vacancies in the information commissions, leading to a buildup of large backlogs and long delays of more than a year in the disposal of appeals and complaints.

The counsel for UOI informed the court that the selection committee consisting of the Prime Minister, a Cabinet minister and the LoP is scheduled to meet on December 10. The SC gave directions to all the Chief Secretaries to file affidavits indicating the number of sanctioned posts in the respective state information commissions, the number of vacant posts and the backlog of appeals and complaints.

Further, the bench stated that they will hear the matter again after two weeks.