The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Central government's Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to give a timeline within which pending vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC) and various State Information Commissions (SIC) would be filled (Anjali Bhardwaj & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors.)
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and NK Singh said that this information should be submitted within two weeks.
"We direct Secretary, DoPT to file an affidavit detailing timeline within which selection process will be completed and timeline within which appointments shall be notified. Let the list also be notified in terms of the Anjali Bhardwaj judgment. Let the requisite affidavit be filed in two weeks," the Court ordered.
The Court also issued directions to ensure that pending SIC vacancies are filled in a time-bound manner.
The Bench observed that although various States have begun the process of filling SIC vacancies, there was no definite information on when the selection process will be completed.
Therefore, it issued the following directives to State governments:
1. The list of applicants are to be notified within one week
2. The search committee should be notified within one week
3. The timeline within which interview shall be completed shall be notified and it shall not be more than two weeks after the search committee finalises the candidates.
4. Thereafter, the competent authority shall appoint the selected members within two weeks
The Chief secretary secretary of all States were also ordered to file a compliance affidavit on these aspects.
"Let the Chief Secretaries also inform about the number of vacancies which remain at the present," the Court added.
The Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj and other petitioners who raised grievances against various posts lying vacant in the CIC as well as the SICs.
In a similar plea filed by the same litigants in 2023, the Court had
remarked that the persistence of such vacancies would defeat the object of the Right to Information Act (RTI Act).
During the hearing of the matter in November 2024, the Court had noted that several posts remained vacant in the various SICs, including seven in Maharashtra, eight in Karnataka, two in Chhattisgarh, one in Bihar, four in West Bengal, five in Odisha and two in Tamil Nadu. Additionally, it noted that SICs were defunct in States such as Jharkhand, Telangana and Tripura for several years.
These concerns were reiterated before the Court today as well by the petitioner's counsel.
"It takes more than one year for a case to be listed today. This is the scenario and also this is how RTI is being made defunct ... Jharkhand has stopped entertaining appeals to information commissions saying that it is defunct," advocate Prashant Bhushan told the Bench.
The Court proceeded to again seek information on when vacancies in information commissions would be filled.
"State Chief Secretaries shall file an affidavit as to when the vacancies are filled and what process is filled. But if process is not followed as per judgment laid down then we will take up those individual cases," Justice Kant said.
Notably, the Court also addressed the state of affairs in Jharkhand specifically today.
It recorded the State's explanation that the selection process of SIC members has been delayed due to a delay in announcing who the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) is, following the June 2024 Assembly Elections. The LoP is also an ex officio member of the committee that determines the appointment of SIC members.
The Court proceeded to propose the following interim arrangement so that SIC member selection is not further delayed.
"It is directed that largest opposition party in the Vidhan Sabha (should) nominate one of its elected members as LoP for the purpose of appointing ... Information Commissioner. The needful shall be done in two weeks. Selection committee shall commence the selection process immediately thereafter ... Let Jharkhand chief secretary file a compliance affidavit," the Court ordered.
