Mumbai Mirror: Mumbai: Wednesday, December 20, 2017.
In an
application to Acting CJ, Pradeep Bhalekar sees a deliberate attempt to cripple
the transparency of the Act.
Alleging that
the state government is systematically subverting the Right to Information
(RTI) Act and trying to shield itself from public scrutiny and accountability,
activist Pradeep Bhalekar has written to the Acting Chief Justice of Bombay
High Court complaining about the delay in the appointment of Maharashtra state
Chief Information Commissioner (CIC).
Bhalekar
said, “After Ratnakar Gaikwad’s retirement in May, the post of CIC has been
lying vacant. This delay in the appointment of CIC is affecting the effective
implementation of RTI.”
In his
application, Bhalekar, a resident of Malad, wrote, “The RTI Act is under threat
once again. It seems to be a deliberate attempt to cripple the transparency of
the Act. This massive delay in appointing a new CIC is severely hampering the
working of the information commission. There is already a huge backlog in the
commission with close to 39,000 appeals and complaints pending. This
ever-increasing backlog of cases challenges the citizens’ fundamental rights
and creates roadblocks in fighting corruption. The new CIC will take months to
clear the backlog. By not appointing the CIC, the Maharashtra state government
is systematically subverting the Act and trying to shield itself from public
scrutiny and accountability.”
Bhalekar said
that CIC is an institution meant to help check corruption and misgovernance.
“Political and administrative cronyism cannot be allowed to erode these
institutions by delays in appointments. It is not only frustrating but also
defeats the objectives of ‘transparency law’ where lawmakers had made
provisions for furnishing information within 30 days of an RTI request. How can
the Central Information Commission, responsible for adjudicating RTI appeals,
function effectively without a CIC? The delay in appointment is a frontal
attack on the RTI Act and this is an attempt to weaken the Act stealthily by
slowing down the entire process.”
The hearing
on his application is scheduled for next week.
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