The country celebrated the 11th anniversary of the implementation of the RTI Act 2005 on October 12, 2016. Though the Central Information Commission and Information Commission in various other states are functioning efficiently, the present state of our State Information Commission(SIC) is in a pathetic condition. As per clause 15(2) of RTI Act, the state can have ten Information Commissioners (IC) and Chief Information Commissioner (CIC).In our state, we have 6 including the CIC. An appeal filed before the Central Information Commission, New Delhi, is being disposed of normally within 6 months.
But an appeal filed before the SIC is being taken up for hearing after more than four years. As per the data published on the official website of the SIC, 11805 appeals and complaints are pending as on August 31, 2016. Even appeals filed in 2012 have not been heard. The main reason for the backlog is due to the incompetency of some of the ICs who have since retired and the huge number of vacancies of ICs. Justice delayed is justice denied. But it is heartening to note that, after Winson M Paul took over as the CIC, he has disposed of 429 cases as on August 31, 2016.
Anticipating the above situation, the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information(NCPRI )Kerala unit had filed a Writ Petition W P (C)No. 19481 on June 26, 2015, in the High Court of Kerala for speeding up the selection and appointment of IC s in our state strictly as per the stipulations of the Supreme court judgments in the Namit Sharma Vs Union of India. No. 210 of 2012 and the review order of the Supreme Court Review Petition( C) No.2309 of 2012 .
While disposing of the petition on November 23, 2015, the High Court observed that “The IC is an important functionary to fulfil the objectives of the RTI Act enacted by Parliament. On account of non-appointment and non-functioning of the said office, prejudice is caused to the rights of the public in general. In the present, we are of the view that a case has been made out to issue a direction to the respondents to complete the process of appointment to the vacant posts of ICs as per the established procedure. This process shall be completed within six weeks from the date of production of a copy of this judgment. Writ petition is disposed as above.”
In response to the above order of the High Court, the previous Government completed the selection process and submitted a list of 6 persons to the Governor. The selection except for the post of CIC Mr Winson M Paul, was not as per stipulations contained in the Supreme Court Judgment. All other candidates were empanelled purely on political considerations. Subsequently, many complaints were filed before the Governor against the selection process urging him to cancel the selection. Accordingly the Governor approved the appointment Mr Winson M Paul and the list of all other candidates was returned.
Aggrieved by the decision of the Governor, the empanelled candidates filed Writ Petitions before the High Court.
The High Court vide its judgment dated September 9, 2016 ordered that the Government should take steps to approve the earlier list of the ICs within one month of the judgment. In the meanwhile, the new Government has challenged the above judgment of the single bench before the division bench and obtained a stay on the judgment. One precious year will be over on November 23, 2016 after the pronouncement of the order of the Division bench of the Kerala High Court that the vacancies of ICs should be filled within 6 weeks of the judgment.
It is a pity that in spite of the judgment, successive Governments have not taken effective steps to fill up the vacancies. The Government has obtained a stay from the High Court against the order of the Information Commission, to provide the copies of the cabinet decisions, under RTI. The Government is trying to give a natural burial to the SIC. Since an appeal filed before it will not be taken up even after three to four years, the people will desist from filing further appeals. This will lead to the natural death of the SIC.
(Author is a member, State Committee National Campaign For People’s Right To Information, (NCPRI))
