Govt should hasten appointments

The continuing delay in the appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and three central information commissioners is difficult to explain. It has given rise to criticism that the government is deliberately sitting on the appointments. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in the past strongly supported the Right to Information Act and claimed that it is a strong weapon to fight corruption and to improve governance. But the inaction over the crucial appointments has raised serious questions about the government’s commitment to the RTI regime. The Delhi High Court strongly criticised the government over the matter last week. The government had no credible explanation for the delay, and only promised that it would expedite the process of appointments. Even by the usual standards of government functioning, the CIC appointment process is very slow. For a government which claims to act quickly and decisively, the explanations may have to be found elsewhere.

The last CIC retired on August 22, 2014. The crucial position has been lying vacant for the last eight months. The UPA government used to appoint the senior most information commissioner as the CIC, but the NDA government decided to make a fresh appointment. Though it has received a large number of applications in response to an advertisement, they have not been processed and neither has a short list been made. Three information commissioners also retired at different points of time in the last one year. These posts also have to be filled up. So the body, which has a crucial role in the implementation of the RTI Act, is headless and limping. The departments under the charge of the CIC include the Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament and the President’s secretariat. About 38,000 complaints and appeals have piled up in the appellate body, and about 13,000 of them are on the CIC’s table. It is estimated that even if the offices are filled up immediately, it might take two years to clear the backlog. This is against the letter and spirit of the RTI law.

RTI activists and anti-corruption campaigners have strongly condemned the government’s inaction and charged that it is intended to weaken the RTI structure. It has been described as a slow poisoning of the RTI regime. A former CIC, Wajahat Habibullah, has pointed out that the absence of a CIC would seriously hit work in the central information office. The government has dillydallied on appointments to a number of other key positions like the Lokpal as well. It has even refused to disclose the progress made in the process of appointments. Further delays would only prove the criticism right.