Supreme Court Criticizes Delays in Appointing Information Commissioners

• The Supreme Court criticizes the delay in appointing Information Commissioners under the Right to Information Act.

• The court questions the purpose of creating a transparency-in-governance institution without sufficient personnel.

• The Central Information Commission has eight vacant posts, with 23,000 appeals pending.

• Several Information Commissions in the States have been defunct since 2020, and some have stopped accepting petitions under the Right to Information Act.

• The court warns about the overloading of the Commission with one set of candidates.

• Despite a February 2019 apex court judgment, the appointment of retired bureaucrats continues.

• The court orders the Department of Personnel and Training to submit an adavit in two weeks, and states to notify the list of applicants and the composition of the search committee in two weeks.