March 3, 2016
Nadimul Haque raises the issue of delay in the appointment of Information Commissioners in the CIC
Today I raise the issue of delay in the appointment of Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission.
Sir, recently, the panel, under the RTI Act 2005, composed of the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister, sent the names of three Information Commissioners to the President for his assent.
However, Sir, this move has come after almost two years since the seats got vacant and that too, Sir, after the Supreme Court had ordered the appointment of the three Information Commissioners within six weeks, on a PIL filed by an RTI activist. The delay has not only indirectly denied information to the citizens but has also led to a huge pendency of cases before the CIC, which amounts to more than 35,000 cases in appeals and complaints.
Sir, the sitting Information Commissioners of the CIC disposed of approximately 250 appeals and complaints in a month, and if the three CICs had been appointed in a timely manner by the Government then there would have been approximately, Sir, 9000 less cases before the Commission. It is also opposed to the words of the Prime Minister, when he addressed the 10th annual RTI Convention, wherein he said that the timely and trouble-free disposal of RTI cases was essential to uphold the spirit of the Right to Information Act 2005.
In the light of the above facts I want to ask the Government why is there a delay in the appointment of Information Commissioners despite the Prime Minister’s promise and also why the judiciary had to use its prerogative, which should have been done by the executive. I would request the Government to ensure that in the future Information Commissioners are appointed in a timely manner.
