Info commissions threat to RTI, says Shailesh

As he prepares to demit office on Friday after a nearly four-year stint at the Central Information Commission (CIC), Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi feels that the biggest threat to RTI regime in the country is from the Information Commissions ((IC) themselves.

Gandhi also says rising pendency of cases with the ICs would leave the citizens disenchanted with the transparency law.

The 65-year old Informationa Commissioner, who paid interns from his own pocket for ensuring quick and efficient processing of case files, said that RTI faces three major threats - lowest from the government, then judicial processes and highest threat is from IC themselves.

“The highest threat is from the commissions where already there are cases that are pending for two and three years for a law that is seven years old. If it continues like this, in the next five years, the pendency is likely to be three to five years at which point the common man will run away from this.”