12,000 appeals pending with Rajasthan State Information Commission under RTI
5 Apr, 2013The state information commission (SIC) of Rajasthan doesn’t have any information commissioner leaving the appellants high and dry. The Right to Information (RTI) Act prescribes appointment of a maximum of 10 information commissioners in a state besides the chief information commissioner. The situation exists for past few months which has been compounded by the Supreme Court judgment that made it mandatory for constitution of two member benches for hearing of appeals by information commission with at least one member having a judicial background.
The Rajasthan state government started the process of appointment of information commissioners in October, 2012 by short listing 41 judges for the post but no action was taken thereafter. The additional chief secretary, general administration department said that the shortlisted names were sent to the high powered committee whose decision is still awaited.
Meanwhile, the state information commission remains defunct and around 12,000 second appeals under RTI Act are pending with the commission for hearing.