Skip to main content

GoI, state govts "stifling" RTI Act: Apex court wants vacant posts filled up transparently

By Our Representative
Taking serious note of “lack” of transparency, the Supreme Court bench consisting of Justices AK Sikri, S Abdul Nazeer and R Subhash Reddy, has directed the Government of India (GoI) to immediately ensure that information related to the selection of information commissioners, including the chief information commissioner, pending for quite some time, is uploaded on its website.
Insisting that the number and names of applicants, composition of search committee, criteria for short-listing and details of the selection committee, should also be uploaded on it's website, the bench further directed the GoI that all the vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC) should be advertised. So far, the GoI has advertised for only five of the eight vacancies in the CIC.
The bench said, the advertisement must clearly define the salary and tenure as per the RTI Act. The ruling came on December 13, 2018, when the public interest litigation (PIL) regarding vacancies in information commissions set up under the Right to Information (RTI) Act was heard by the Supreme Court.
Failure to appoint eight information commissions in the CIC, including that of the chief, is said to have resulted in about 26,500 pending appeals/complaints.
Pinky Anand, additional solicitor general (ASG), informed the court that, as on December 11, 2018, the selection committee had met and the selection of the chief information commissioner was to finalised. The selection of four other vacancies, which were also advertised, was not finalised and was deferred, he added.
The ASG also stated that, for the post of the chief, 64 applications were received; and for the posts of four information commissioners which were advertised, 280 applications were received.
The petitioners pointed out that the government had completely subverted the process of appointment. It had issued a defective advertisement which did not specify the salary and tenure of commissioners. This would have dissuaded people of eminence from applying.
Further it was pointed out that the government was concealing and subverting transparency in the process of appointment by denying even the most basic information. In fact, in its rejoinder, the government had claimed that transparency about the process of appointment was not conducive.
As for the status of state information commissions, the Supreme Court directed each of the respondents to file a reply indicating the number of cases pending, for how long the matters were pending, the number of commissioners currently in the commission and the justification for not appointing additional commissioners if posts were vacant.
The counsel of the government of West Bengal claimed that the number of appeals and complaints being filed to the state information commission was declining and therefore the government did not intend to fill all the vacant posts. Currently there are only two commissioners, including the chief and the government has advertised only one post.
The petitioners pointed out that the commission was disposing appeals/complaints filed more than 10 years ago and the number of appeals/complaints may be declining because the government was frustrating peoples' right to information. The bench inquired if the number of appeals/complaints was declining in West Bengal if people were scared to file RTI applications.
The court took serious note of the continuing subversion of the RTI Act in Andhra Pradesh where the State Information Commission has been non-functional for 20 months. It was pointed out that even though three commissioners were appointed after PIL was filed, no chief had been appointed.
For appointments to the Maharashtra State Information Commission, the court enquired whether appointments were made subsequent to an advertisement. It directed the government to file a reply.
The petition was filed by Anjali Bhardwaj, Lokesh Batra and Amrita Johri. The petitioners were represented by senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, Pranav Sachdeva and Rahul Gupta.
The petition highlights that the “GoI and state governments have attempted to stifle the functioning of the RTI Act by failing to do their statutory duty of ensuring appointment of commissioners in the Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions, in a timely manner”.
Further, it underlines the need for transparency in the appointment of commissioners. “...lack of transparency in the appointment of information commissioners, and the violation of directions of the Supreme Court regarding the procedure for appointment of information commissioners, is undermining the institution of the information commission”.

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.