Siasat Daily: Hyderabad: Friday, 19 September 2025.
Justice T. Madhavi Devi quashed notice, directing fresh case-wise summons instead of clubbing 404 RTI appeals for a single-day hearing.
The Telangana High Court
on Thursday, September 18, pulled up the State Information Commission for
directing a petitioner to appear for the hearing of 404 RTI appeals on a single
day.
The court stated that while disposing of cases quickly is important, it is impractical to expect hundreds of appeals to be heard simultaneously.
Judge calls move ‘unreasonable’
Justice T Madhavi Devi observed that such a move was unreasonable and set aside the Commission’s notice.
The petition was filed at the Telangana High Court by RTI activist V Shyam, who had submitted 404 appeals before the Commission after allegedly not receiving proper replies to his applications.
The Commission issued a notice on September 11, asking him to appear with all relevant details for hearings on September 18.
Challenging this, Shyam filed a lunch motion petition in the High Court, arguing that the notice was arbitrary and unworkable.
During the hearing, the government counsel informed the court that the post of Chief Information Commissioner had remained vacant for a year and a half, resulting in a backlog of more than 17000 cases.
He pointed out that, apart from Shyam’s 404 appeals, two other applicants had submitted 980 and 832 appeals, respectively. In compliance with earlier directions of the High Court to clear pending cases within a timeframe, the Commission had sought to group these cases for hearing.
Judge questions practicality of hearing hundreds of cases in single setting
However, the judge questioned the practicality of hearing hundreds of cases in a single sitting and noted that notices without mentioning case numbers were invalid.
She quashed the Commission’s September 11 notice and directed it to issue fresh notices with specific case details. The petition was then closed.
Meanwhile, the Commission revealed that only three applicants together had filed nearly 2,500 RTI appeals across different departments.
Srinivas Reddy had sought details from the Finance Department on budget allocations and expenditures until the end of 2023.
Vadde Shyam requested information from the Municipal Administration Department about building permits and occupancy certificates in the Charminar Zone.
Another applicant, Mohammed Ashraf, sought information from the School Education, Home, and Revenue Departments.
On Thursday, September 18, a full bench of five commissioners, under the leadership of the Chief Information Commissioner, reviewed these appeals as part of efforts to clear the large backlog of RTI-related cases pending before the body.
Justice T. Madhavi Devi quashed notice, directing fresh case-wise summons instead of clubbing 404 RTI appeals for a single-day hearing.
The court stated that while disposing of cases quickly is important, it is impractical to expect hundreds of appeals to be heard simultaneously.
Judge calls move ‘unreasonable’
Justice T Madhavi Devi observed that such a move was unreasonable and set aside the Commission’s notice.
The petition was filed at the Telangana High Court by RTI activist V Shyam, who had submitted 404 appeals before the Commission after allegedly not receiving proper replies to his applications.
The Commission issued a notice on September 11, asking him to appear with all relevant details for hearings on September 18.
Challenging this, Shyam filed a lunch motion petition in the High Court, arguing that the notice was arbitrary and unworkable.
During the hearing, the government counsel informed the court that the post of Chief Information Commissioner had remained vacant for a year and a half, resulting in a backlog of more than 17000 cases.
He pointed out that, apart from Shyam’s 404 appeals, two other applicants had submitted 980 and 832 appeals, respectively. In compliance with earlier directions of the High Court to clear pending cases within a timeframe, the Commission had sought to group these cases for hearing.
Judge questions practicality of hearing hundreds of cases in single setting
However, the judge questioned the practicality of hearing hundreds of cases in a single sitting and noted that notices without mentioning case numbers were invalid.
She quashed the Commission’s September 11 notice and directed it to issue fresh notices with specific case details. The petition was then closed.
Meanwhile, the Commission revealed that only three applicants together had filed nearly 2,500 RTI appeals across different departments.
Srinivas Reddy had sought details from the Finance Department on budget allocations and expenditures until the end of 2023.
Vadde Shyam requested information from the Municipal Administration Department about building permits and occupancy certificates in the Charminar Zone.
Another applicant, Mohammed Ashraf, sought information from the School Education, Home, and Revenue Departments.
On Thursday, September 18, a full bench of five commissioners, under the leadership of the Chief Information Commissioner, reviewed these appeals as part of efforts to clear the large backlog of RTI-related cases pending before the body.
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