6 State-level RTI panels are defunct; appeals can take years to be heard: report.

 The Hindu: New Delhi: Saturday, October 11, 2025.

The Satark Nagrik Sangathan’s annual report shows that Information Commissions — which hear appeals against RTI responses by government bodies — may take years to even hear a case.

As the 20th anniversary of the Right to Information Act, 2005 approaches, many State Information Commissions (SICs) and the Central Information Commission (CIC) are either paralysed or so understaffed that hearings could take years to happen, according to a report by a citizens’ group working to promote transparency in government functioning.

The SICs and the CIC hear appeals and complaints when citizens are dissatisfied with the result of an RTI application. There were over 2.4 lakh appeals in 2024.

The latest edition of the Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS)’s annual assessment shows that six SICs — Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Tripura and Madhya Pradesh — were defunct for varying periods of time between July 1, 2024 to October 7, 2025 as no new Commissioners were appointed upon the incumbents demitting office.” The SICs of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Bihar are functioning without a full strength of Commissioners.

‘What is the use of RTI if there are no people to work for it?’ Supreme Court asks Centre, States

Commissioners are appointed by the President or the Governor of a State, following a recommendation by the Prime Minister or Chief Minister, depending on whether the pick is for the CIC or an SIC. (The appointment is formally made by a committee, but two of the three members are the PM or the CM, and a Minister appointed by them.)

Meanwhile, the Central Information Commission, which hears appeals against RTI responses to Union government organisations, is functioning with only two Information Commissioners, with nine vacancies, including for the Chief Information Commissioner, and hearings can take over a year to come up.

The backlog is mounting, with Commissions only able to dispose of 1.8 lakh cases in a year with 2.4 lakh appeals. In some States, the current speed of hearings taking place is far slower: the SNS’s report “shows that the Telangana SIC would take an estimated 29 years and two months — a matter filed on July 1, 2025 would be disposed [of] in the year 2054.”

Even statutory administrative functions have not been observed in seriousness: 20 of the 29 Commissions have not published an annual report for the year 2023–24, SNS said. As for penalties, which Commissions can impose on public information officers for unduly delaying or refusing information, no such levies were imposed in 98% of cases where such fines were could be potentially imposed, the SNS found.

The report was based on 146 RTI applications to the SICs and the CIC, SNS said. Over 4 lakh appeals and complaints were pending as of June, with Maharashtra (95,340), Karnataka (47,825) and Tamil Nadu (41,059) with the largest outstanding backlog.