DNA: New Delhi: Monday, January 30,
2017.
It was
conducted by the Research, Assessment and Group (RAAG) and Satark Nagrik
Sangathan, which look after the implementation of RTI.
More than 60
percent of the central information commission (CIC) orders are
"deficient" in terms of "recording critical facts" and
"grounds for decision of the IC and the basis thereof." These
findings are part of the study 'Key findings of research on the performance of
adjudicators of the RTI Act: Information Commissions (ICs), High Courts and the
Supreme Court'. It was conducted by the Research, Assessment and Group (RAAG)
and Satark Nagrik Sangathan, which look after the implementation of RTI.
That apart,
the study also showed that there was gross violation of the RTI Act by the
commissions for not fining public information officers (PIO) who do not give
information on time as mandatory in the Act.
The study was
compiled by authors Anjali Bhardwaj, Amrita Johri, and Shekhar Singh and was
published in January 2017. It also mentioned the average waiting period in each
state information commission. Maharahtra, as per the study has an eight month
waiting period. Some benches in the state have a waiting period of over two
years.
The study
also states that the deficiency remained despite Supreme Court's clear
directives which state that all information commission orders should have
critical facts of cases mentioned in the order. 2,000 information commission
orders studied stated that 63 per cent of the total orders passed did not have
those details.
"In some
cases, we have seen that even as a lay person, we can see that the court order
does not help in providing any concrete information," said Bhardwaj.
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