Nineteen years after the Right to Information (RTI) Act was implemented, there is clear evidence that governments are whittling down peoples’ right to access information by rendering information commissions ineffective. Under the RTI Act, information commissions are the final appellate authority and are mandated to safeguard and facilitate people’s right to information. They have wide ranging powers, including the ability to direct disclosure of information which governments find inconvenient to share or would prefer to keep under wraps. Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) accessed data using the RTI Act on the functioning of the 29 information commissions across the country. Here are the five key points emerging from the report, which highlight the dismal state of the transparency watchdogs:VacanciesVacancies in information commissions result in a large backlog of appeals and complaints, leading to long delays in disposal of cases. Out of 29 information commissions, seven were non-functional for varying lengths of time last year. These included the commissions in Jharkhand, Telangana, Tripura, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Additionally, five commissions were functioning without a chief information commissioner (CIC) and eight were working at reduced capacity with inadequate number of information commissioners (ICs), despite a large backlog of appeals and complaints. Maharashtra did not have a CIC and had six vacancies. The Central Information Commission was working with only the Chief and two ICs.BacklogsIn the 29 information commissions across the country, more than 4 lakh appeals and complaints were pending as of June 30, 2024.With a backlog of 1,08,641 cases, the Maharashtra state information commission (SIC) had the highest number of cases pending in the country. This was followed by the Karnataka SIC with more than 50,000 cases and Tamil Nadu with a backlog of 41,241. Backlog of Appeals & Complaints in Information CommissionsS. NoInformation CommissionPending as of June 30, 20241Maharashtra1,08,6412Karnataka ①50,2773Tamil Nadu ②41,2414Chhattisgarh25,3175Bihar ③25,1016Uttar Pradesh24,0357CIC22,7748Odisha20,2359Telangana14,16210Madhya Pradesh ④10,84911Andhra Pradesh10,80912Punjab9,17513Jharkhand ⑤7,72814West Bengal7,55615Rajasthan7,02816Kerala6,45517Gujarat6,13118Haryana4,19119Arunachal Pradesh ⑥1,19020Uttarakhand95121Himachal Pradesh71622Assam44523Tripura26524Goa15225Manipur4226Meghalaya2327Nagaland1528Mizoram329Sikkim2Total4,05,509Note: Pending as of 10-9-2024 31-10-2023 23-08-2024④10-9-2023 ⑤May 2020 when the SIC became defunct ⑥8-11-2023Estimated time for disposalThe estimated time for disposal of a fresh appeal or complaint would be more than one year in 14 information commissions. The SNS report shows that the Chhattisgarh SIC would take 5 years and 2 months and the SIC of Bihar, would take 4 and a half years. This means a fresh appeal or complaint would be disposed of in the year 2029 in the two commissions at the current rate of disposal! Inordinate delays by commissions in disposing appeals and complaints violate the basic objective of the RTI Act. Long delays in commissions render the law ineffective for people, especially for those living at the margins, who are most dependent on government services (and therefore need information the most).Also read: ‘161 Applications Received for 8 Vacant Information Commissioner Posts at CIC’: RTIEstimated time required for disposal of an appeal/complaintS. No.Information CommissionEstimated time for disposal of appeal/complaint filed on July 1, 20241Chhattisgarh5 years & 2 months2Bihar ①4 years & 6 months3Odisha3 years & 11 months4Arunachal Pradesh ②3 years & 4 months5Tamil Nadu ③2 years & 5 months6Punjab2 years & 4 months7Kerala1 year & 11 months8Maharashtra1 year & 11 months9West Bengal1 year & 10 months10Karnataka④1 year & 9 months11Andhra Pradesh1 year & 8 months12CIC1 year & 4 months13Himachal Pradesh1 year & 2 months14Gujarat1 year & 1 month15Nagaland10 months16Assam9 months17Uttar Pradesh9 months18Meghalaya6 months19Haryana6 months20Goa6 months21Rajasthan4 months22Manipur4 months23Uttarakhand3 months24Mizoram2 months25SikkimLess than 1 month26JharkhandDefunct27TelanganaDefunct28TripuraDefunct29Madhya Pradeshno replyNote- Estimated time for disposal of appeal/complaint filed on ①24-08-2024 ② 9-11-2023 ③1-11-2023 ④11-9-2024Inadequate penalties on erring officersAccording to the SNS report, commissions did not impose penalties in 95% of the cases where penalties were imposable. The RTI Act empowers the commissions to impose penalties of up to Rs 25,000 on erring public information officers (PIOs) for violating the RTI Act. This penalty clause is one of the key provisions of the Act that gives the law its teeth. However, our experience in India suggests that even when ICs are appointed, a majority of them are either retired government officials or people who enjoy political patronage. Consequently, they are often reluctant to act against violations of the transparency law. The report shows that a penalty was imposed in just 3% of the cases disposed of by the commissions. Non-imposition of penalties in deserving cases sends a signal to public authorities that violating the law will not invite any serious consequences. This destroys the basic framework of incentives built into the RTI law and promotes a culture of impunity.The SIC of Uttar Pradesh imposed the highest amount of penalty (Rs 4.85 crore), followed by Chhattisgarh (Rs 1.83 crore), Karnataka (Rs 93.95 lakh) and Haryana (Rs 38.18 lakh). Details of penalty imposed by ICs (July 2023 to June 2024)Information CommissionNo. of cases where penalty was imposedAmount of penalty imposed1Uttar Pradesh1,9704,84,77,0002Chhattisgarhnot provided1,83,00,0003Karnataka46493,95,0004Haryana15538,18,2505Uttarakhand①18216,98,0046Arunachal Pradesh4314,50,0007Rajasthan74813,58,0008Bihar5913,30,0009Punjab10212,22,00010Gujarat1156,43,50011Kerala674,74,00012Andhra Pradesh212,34,00013Himachal Pradesh111,77,00014Nagaland686,50015Manipur250,00016Goa631,00017West Bengal②12500018Assam110,00019Jharkhand0020Meghalaya0021Mizoram0022Sikkim0023Telangana0024Tripura0025CICInfo not providedInfo not provided26Madhya PradeshNo replyNo reply27MaharashtraInfo not providedInfo not provided28OdishaInfo deniedInfo denied29Tamil NaduNo replyNo replyTotal3,9538,87,79,254Note: For the period ①1-4-2023 to 30-5-2024 ②1-6-2023 to 30-11-2023 Compliance reportsFinally, the report shows that the transparency watchdogs do not have a shining track record in terms of their own transparency and accountability towards the citizens. The RTI Act obligates each commission to prepare a “report on the implementation of the provisions of this Act” every year which is to be laid before parliament or the state legislature. The performance of many commissions on this front was found to be dismal, with 18 of 29 ICs (62%) not publishing their annual report even for 2022-23. The SICs of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have not published their annual report since the constitution of the respective SICs in 2017 following the bifurcation of the erstwhile state. The SIC of Bihar has not published its annual report for more than 6 years (since 2017-18).Nearly 33% of them have not made their latest annual report available on their website. Availability of Annual ReportsInformation commissionYear of last publication of annual reportAvailable on website1Andhra PradeshSIC does not publish annual report 2Arunachal Pradesh2022-23No3Assam2022-23Yes4Bihar2017-18Yes5Chhattisgarh2023Yes6CIC2022-23Yes7Goa2020-21No8Gujarat2022-23Yes9Haryana2020Yes10Himachal Pradesh2021-22No11Jharkhand2018Yes12Karnataka2020-21yes13Kerala2022-23No14Madhya Pradesh2022Yes15Maharashtra2021Yes16Manipur2022-23No17Meghalaya2021Yes18Mizoram2022-23Yes19Nagaland2022-23No20Odisha2020-21Yes21Punjab2021Yes22Rajasthan2023Yes23Sikkim2021-22Yes24Tamil Nadu2020Yes25TelanganaNot published since SIC constituted in 201726Tripura2020-21No27Uttar Pradesh2021-22Yes28Uttarakhand2022-23No29West Bengal2022YesThe RTI law has empowered people in India to meaningfully participate in democracy. Every year, 4-6 million RTI applications are filed across the country. The law has been used extensively in the last 19 years to hold governments accountable for corruption and lapses in the delivery of essential services and secure access to basic rights. It has also been used to question the highest authorities of the country on their performance, decisions and conduct. For the law to continue to meaningfully empower people, it is critical that information commissions are robust and fiercely independent. The RTI Act was passed in the country as a result of a strong people’s movement. People need to come together once again to protect their fundamental right to information and ensure that the transparency watchdogs perform their mandated role.Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri are transparency activists associated with Satark Nagrik Sangathan and the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information.
