'Acche din' a distant dream for both Central Information Commission and RTI applicants as 'Modi Sarkar' sits on file related to appointment of CIC even as pendency mounts

If the state of affairs of the Central Information Commission were to be considered as a parameter to assess the robust nature of the transparency  regime in the country, chances are that the nation may not acquit itself well in that regard. 

That is because the Central Information Commission (CIC), the apex body under the Right to Information Act, 2005, has remained headless since August 22, spawning an unprecedented backlog of applications (there are over 36,000 pending Right to Information (RTI) queries pending with the CIC) and sparking fears that the undue delay occasioned could sound the "death knell" for transparency.

The absence of a CIC has affected implementation of the RTI and contributed to mounting arrears

203 people - other commission members and retired bureaucrats included - are vying to become the chief information commissioner, according to information received by activist Commodore (retd.) Lokesh Batra under the Right to Information Act (RTI).

The information provided to Commodore (retd) Batra also revealed that the number of pending cases in the CIC increased by 47 per cent, from 7655 to 11212, in the four months since the retirement of the last CIC, Rajiv Mathur. 

As on January 4, 2015, there are 36,319 pending cases before the Central Information Commission, of which 28,888 are appeals while the rest (7,431) are in the nature of complaints.

The government had invited applications for the post of CIC on 24th October. The last date for application was 23rd November.

The CIC chief is appointed by the President on the recommendation of a three-member selection committee headed by the Prime Minister and including the leader of the Opposition and a cabinet minister who is nominated by the Prime Minister. 

The posts of three information commissioners are also lying vacant.

In an e-mail reply to Batra, the Department of Personnel and Training said the file related to the appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner has been pending with the PMO since August 1, 2014.

Former chief information commissioners Wajahat Habibullah and Deepak Sandhu recently wrote to the President highlighting how the lack of a CIC head was affecting RTI implementation.

"The effective functioning of adjudicators under the RTI Act, i.e. the information commissions, is critical for the health of the transparency regime in the country. Already, there is a huge backlog with close to 25,000 appeals and complaints pending in the commission. Often, people have to wait for more than a year for their appeals and complaints to be heard. The lack of a chief information commissioner will cause the pendency to increase further," said the letter, also signed by activist Aruna Roy and former CIC commissioner Shailesh Gandhi.