CIC headless again as vacancies pile up, RTI activists warn of systemic breakdown

By A Representative 

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has once again been left headless, marking the seventh time in the last eleven years that the body is functioning without a Chief. The post fell vacant after the retirement of Chief Information Commissioner Heeralal Samariya on September 13, 2025, upon his attainment of 65 years of age. Each instance of vacancy in the past has arisen due to routine retirements, with the dates of demitting office known well in advance. Despite this, the government has repeatedly failed to make timely appointments.

The CIC is currently operating with only two commissioners, while nine posts — including that of the Chief and eight commissioners — remain vacant. The backlog has already crossed 26,000 cases, with applicants waiting over a year for their matters to be heard. Eight of the vacancies have remained unfilled since November 2023. While the government issued advertisements for the posts in August 2024 and again in May 2025 for the Chief’s position, no appointments have been made till date.

This delay is in violation of the Supreme Court’s 2019 judgment, which directed that vacancies in information commissions must be filled promptly to ensure the Right to Information (RTI) Act functions effectively. The Court had warned that inadequate staffing would undermine the very purpose of the law. In October 2023, the Supreme Court again observed that the RTI Act risked becoming a “dead letter” if vacancies were not addressed.

Transparency activists Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri, associated with the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information and Satark Nagrik Sangathan, said that by failing to make appointments, the government is crippling citizens’ fundamental right to information. They pointed out that information seekers are forced to wait more than a year for their appeals to be heard, rendering the information meaningless. “Information delayed is information denied,” they stressed.

The activists also highlighted that the last round of appointments in November 2023 was made without the presence of the Leader of Opposition in the Selection Committee, a move they termed arbitrary and in violation of the RTI Act. Under the law, the committee must include the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister.

Bhardwaj, Johri, and retired Commodore Lokesh Batra are petitioners in an ongoing case in the Supreme Court demanding timely and transparent appointments to information commissions across the country.