The Right to Information Act (RTI) is considered a potent weapon to ensure transparency in the functioning of the government. The Central Information Commission (CIC), set up with much fanfare in 2005 under the Right to Information Act, 2005, to enforce the Act through the disposal of complaints against state and central authorities with regard to queries on the right to information, has not moved forward in the right earnest. Out of the sanctioned strength of ten Information Commissioners, the CIC has only four. The Chief Information Commissioner, YK Sinha, retired early this month. Four states have no chief information commissioners, and, shockingly, the state information commission itself is inoperative in a few states.
The result: thousands of pending cases. At the CIC, although there is a provision for the appointment of ten ICs, five or more posts are always vacant. Every time a vacancy arises, either under the CIC or IC, there has always been an undue delay in filling vacancies. In fact, appointments to the Commission have almost always been subsequent to the intervention of the courts. The Supreme Court has said that the selection process for a new CIC or IC should be initiated one to two months before the superannuation of the incumbent. The top court has added that the RTI is a fundamental right of a citizen. But the maxim "justice delayed is justice denied" holds true for the top RTI body as well.
Dr Ganapathi Bhat
Akola