Taking serious note of vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC) and state information commissions (SICs), the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and the state governments to apprise it about the steps taken to fill up the posts.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan said the states that have initiated the process of filling up the vacant posts should complete the process within four weeks.
Pointing out that there are eight vacancies in CIC out of the 11 sanctioned posts including that of chief information commissioner, the bench asked Additional Solicitor General Brijender Chahar, appearing for the Centre, to file an affidavit within two weeks about the steps taken to fill up the vacancies.
Since February 2019, the apex court has given several directions on the need for timely appointments to the transparency watchdog by the Centre and states so that the 2005 law on the Right to Information remains effective.
The court said on Tuesday that in Jharkhand, Tripura and Telangana, the SICs have become virtually defunct, as there are no information commissioners. The bench asked the chief secretaries of these states to immediately initiate the process for filling up the vacancies and said where it has been started, it should be completed within four weeks.
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Senior advocate Arunabh Chowdhury, appearing for the Jharkhand government, said that the posts were vacant in the State Information Commission (SIC) from 2020 because there was no Leader of Opposition in the House.
“The quorum could not be completed. The new House will be sworn in on Wednesday and thereafter the process will be initiated within four weeks to fill up the vacant posts,” Chowdhury said.
The bench directed the chief secretary of Jharkhand to initiate the process expeditiously and complete filling up the posts as early as possible.
Similarly, the counsel for Tripura said they have initiated the process in June and the appointment will be made at the earliest.
The bench asked other states to file status reports as well, indicating the sanctioned strength at their respective SIC, the number of vacancies and the steps taken to fill up those posts.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner Anjali Bhardwaj, said that despite directions issued by the top court on October 30, last year, the Centre and the states have not filled the vacancies in the information commissions.
“They are virtually destroying the Right to Information Act. They are not filling the vacancies,” he told the bench.
He gave a chart indicating the vacancies in the CIC and SICs and said that unless the court cracks its whip, the vacancies are not filled.
The bench noted that in Chhattisgarh there are two vacancies, in Bihar one post is vacant, in West Bengal four posts, in Odisha five posts are vacant and in Tamil Nadu two posts are vacant in the SICs.
On October 30, last year, the apex court issued a similar directive regarding the filling of vacancies, stating that otherwise, the 2005 law on the Right to Information would become a “dead letter”.
It had asked the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to collect information from all states on aspects including the sanctioned strength of information commissioners in the SICs, vacancies at present and the total number of pending cases there.
Bhardwaj, in her application, claimed the Centre and states have not followed the apex court’s 2019 judgement on issues including timely filling up of vacancies at the CIC and SICs.
The top court had in December 2019 directed the Centre and state governments to appoint information commissioners within three months at the CIC and SICs, observing there was a need to evolve guidelines to stop misuse of the Right to Information Act.
It had also directed the authorities concerned to put on their website the names of members of the search committee meant for the selection and appointment of information commissioners (ICs) at the CIC.
It had then taken note of Bhushan’s submission that the Centre and various states have not complied with the February 15, 2019 judgement of the apex court asking them to appoint ICs in the CIC, and the SICs within 1-6 months in a transparent manner.
“We direct the Centre and the states to conclude the appointment within three months,” the bench had said, cautioning the authorities that a contempt petition may be filed if its order is not complied with.
The apex court had in its judgement also said information officers should include people of eminence from varied fields and the choice be not limited to bureaucrats alone. It had also highlighted the importance of the exercise being conducted in a transparent manner.
