Chandigarh Tribune: Bathinda: Monday,
December 12, 2016.
It seems that
filing an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has turned
meaningless as a number of cases are lying pending with the State Information
Commissioner (SIC).
There are a few cases which have been waiting
for their first hearing for the last couple of months.
In Punjab, approximately 3,000 RTI cases are
pending and around 10 information commissioners, along with the SIC, hear RTI
applications as appeal to the second appellate authority.
Since the inception of the RTI Act in 2005,
the number of cases pending in the state has been increasing. Till 2015, there
were 2,393 RTI applications which are still pending.
The SIC is also allegedly violating Section
4.1 of the RTI Act which maintains that every public authority shall maintain
all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner which facilitates the
RTI under this Act and ensures that all records that are appropriate to be
computerised within a reasonable time and subject to availability of resources,
are computerised and connected through a network all over the country.
Shockingly, the RTI Act has no provisions of
reviewing the orders given by its own commission, but there are numerous cases
that are registered for review with both the Chief Information Commission
(CIC), Delhi, and SIC, Punjab.
In 2013, around 2,133 cases were filed with
the CIC by the Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) for review against
the fines imposed on them and of these review cases, around 16 were registered
for hearing.
Similarly, in 2014, around 1,961 cases were
filed for the same, of which 28 were registered for hearing. In 2015, the
number of cases was 2,618 and in 2016, it was 3,525.
“Most of the appointments are based on good
political relations. Mostly, the Information Commissioners are not up to the
mark as they are incapable of solving the RTI cases. The Act says that eminent
people should be appointed, but the definition of eminent needs to be
elaborated on. The rising figure of pending cases itself shows the capability
of the commissioners in hearing the cases,” said a State Information
Commissioner, who did not wish to be quoted.
The scenario is no different with the Chief
Information Commissioner, where around 34,295 RTI cases are pending.
“The RTI Act under Section 15.1 says that the
State Information Commission shall consist of the State Chief Information
Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners, not more than 10 members,
as may be deemed necessary. Similar is in the case of the Central Information
Commission. The Act needs to be amended and more Information Commissioners need
to be appointed at the centre and the state level. Section 4.1 of the Act is
being violated as there is no information on the website of the SIC Punjab
about the cases pending with the Information Commissioner,” said Varun Bansal,
a Bathinda-based RTI counsellor.
HC Arora, a High Court advocate and an RTI
expert, said, “The review of cases at the SIC or CIC that are decided by the
commissioners is wrong and unethical. The incompetence and lack of knowledge
about RTI is the main reason for a fewer cases being disposed of in Punjab. An
RTI applicant faces harassment when it takes too much time in hearing. The
Information Commissioners should be given the execution power of its orders.”
On being asked about the delay in the hearing
of cases, SS Channy, Punjab Chief Information Commissioner, said, “Please do
come to my office to know the answers of such questions.”
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