2.21 lakh RTI appeals pending, nine ICs functioning without chiefs: Report

As the RTI regime entered 16th year on Monday, a new analysis showed that over 2.21 lakh appeals and complaints are pending in central and state information commissions, nine bodies are functioning without a chief while officials delaying or denying information are penalised very rarely.

The analysis by the Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) and Centre for Equity Studies (CES) also showed that the State Information Commissions (SICs) in Jharkhand and Tripura are completely defunct with no members while the Central Information Commission (CIC) is functioning without a head and five members.

"Fifteen years after the implementation of the law, experience in India, also captured in various national assessments on the implementation of the RTI Act, suggests that the functioning of information commissions is a major bottleneck in the effective implementation of the RTI law," the report said.

The 'Report Card on the Performance of Information Commissions in India, 2020' showed that the pending appeals and complaints in SICs and CICs as on July 31 this year was at least 2,21,568 as against 2,18,347 as of March 2019.

The number could be much more as only 20 Information Commissions provided data while some have not given statistics till July 31 this year.

Maharashtra SIC had the highest number of 59,312 pending cases followed by Uttar Pradesh SIC (47,923) and the CIC (35,653). Bihar and Karnataka are among the states that did not provide relevant data.

"Large backlog of appeals and complaints in many commissions across the country have resulted in inordinate delays in disposal of cases, which render the law ineffective," it said.

The comparative data from the previous assessment for CIC, and SICs of Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, MP, Odisha and Rajasthan shows a significant increase in the backlog of appeals/complaints since March 2019.

When it comes to imposing a penalty on erring public information officers, the numbers were very less, much to the disappointment of transparency activists. Between April 2019 and July this year, a penalty was imposed only in 1,995 cases while 15,738 show-cause notices were issued to PIOs.

In terms of quantum of penalty, Haryana was the leader (Rs 65.43 lakh), followed by Madhya Pradesh (Rs 43.33 lakh) and Uttarakhand (Rs. 35.79 lakh). The CIC imposed penalty amounting to Rs 12.22 lakh. Interestingly, while SIC of Gujarat issued the maximum number of show-cause notices (9,080), a penalty was imposed in only 163 cases, the report said.

"Non-imposition of penalties in deserving cases by commissions 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," it said.

Twenty-five out of 29 ICs (86%) had not published their annual report for 2019. Only the CIC and SICs of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Mizoram have published their annual report for 2019 and made them available on the official websites.

Punjab SIC has not published its annual report after 2012 while the Uttarakhand SIC has not published since 2014. In both cases, the SICs stated that annual reports till the year 2018 had been submitted to the government for approval and for placing them before the legislative assembly of the respective states.

"Performance of information commissions, in terms of exercising their powers to ensure proper implementation of the law, has been a cause of great concern to the RTI community. Commissions have been found to be extremely reluctant to impose penalties on erring officials for violations of the law. Unfortunately, the transparency watchdogs themselves have not had a shining track record in terms of being transparent and accountable to the people of the country," it added.