Delhi HC ruling may delay RTI cases

TNN, Jun 3, 2010, 12.18am IST

HYDERABAD: The waiting period between filing a petition at the Andhra Pradesh Information Commission (APIC) and its date of hearing might just get longer if a ruling of the Delhi High Court is declared binding on state information commissions across the country.

The recent high court ruling has directed commissions to function as one bench and not as separate benches headed by the information commissioners as is presently the case. Aimed at ensuring that the commission functions as a holistic unit, this move is also to bring about a transparency in the functioning of the commissions.

Given that out of every 100 petitions filed at APIC, only 77 get disposed off within the stipulated time period of thirty days, officials in the state commission are worried that the statistics might get worse if the Delhi High Court ruling is made binding on all states.

“It is an impractical idea wherein the cause of RTI Act will be severely impacted,” said CD Arha, state chief information commissioner.

According to the figures available, around 40,000 fresh cases are admitted by the APIC each year, complaints and second appeals put together. Add to that the pending petitions from the previous year and the numbers get worse.

Given the situation, the last thing APIC would want is all four information commissioners, including the chief information commissioner, to comprise one single bench to pass orders on one case at a time. The justification behind such a move is to ensure that the order passed by the commission is approved by all commissioners and not decided by the one commissioner hearing the case.

If APIC is reeling under so many pending cases at any given time, the chief information commission, Delhi, is not much better placed. With 10 commissioners holding separate hearings now, 10,000 is the number of pending cases there.

After hearing about the Delhi High Court directive the APIC commissioners have asked for a copy of the judgment to get legal help from its counsel in understanding the ramifications of the judgment.

APIC commissioners told TOI that they would move higher authorities if the judgment is made binding on them as well.