Daily Excelsior: Jammu: Friday, 20 February 2026.
The Right to Information is not merely a statutory privilege conferred by Parliament but it is a constitutional facet of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. Transparency is the bedrock of democratic governance. When citizens are denied timely access to information, accountability collapses, and bureaucracy begins to function in insulation rather than service.
In Jammu & Kashmir
today, this is no longer a theoretical concern but a lived reality.
Following the reorganisation of the erstwhile State into a Union Territory, the Central Right to Information Act, 2005 was extended to Jammu & Kashmir. While this transition was presented as a step towards uniform governance, its practical consequences have been deeply regressive for transparency and citizen oversight.
The most damaging change has been the elimination of local adjudication.
Prior to reorganisation, Jammu & Kashmir had its own State Information Commission. Appeals and complaints were heard within the region. Public Information Officers (PIOs) were answerable to Commissioners who were institutionally and geographically proximate. Delays were limited, and the penalty provisions under the RTI law had real deterrent value.
Today, every second appeal and complaint from Jammu & Kashmir must travel to the Central Information Commission in Delhi.This single structural shift has effectively hollowed out the RTI regime in the Union Territory. Applicants routinely wait two to three years for their matters to be listed. By the time hearings occur, the concerned PIOs have often been transferred, promoted, or retired. Files change custodians. Institutional memory fades. Citizens lose interest. What remains is a right without remedy and a process without consequence.
Public authorities are fully conscious of this vacuum. They know that non-compliance carries no immediate cost. They know that the statutory penalties under Section 20 of the RTI Act have become largely unenforceable due to distance and delay. As a result, statutory timelines are ignored with impunity, evasive replies are issued as a matter of routine, and information is denied casually. This has led to systemic non-transparency and dangerous bureaucratic empowerment.
Departments now function with minimal fear of disclosure. Government functioning, and decision making processes remain opaque. Development works escape citizen scrutiny. Welfare schemes operate behind closed doors. Land records, contracts, and expenditure details are withheld without hesitation. The disciplinary force that RTI once exercised over governance has largely disappeared in Jammu & Kashmir. In effect, the Union Territory today operates in an RTI vacuum.
The constitutional implications are grave. The Supreme Court has consistently held that the right to information flows from Article 19(1)(a). However, a right is meaningful only when accompanied by an effective and accessible remedy. When enforcement mechanisms are rendered so distant and sluggish that information becomes practically unattainable, the right itself stands diluted. What exists today in Jammu & Kashmir is constructive denial of the Right to Information.
This arrangement also offends the principle of equality. Citizens in States have access to nearby State Information Commissions. Citizens in Jammu & Kashmir must depend entirely on a Commission sitting hundreds of kilometres away, burdened with appeals from across the country. This geographic and administrative imbalance creates an unreasonable classification among citizens, undermining both Article 14 and Article 19.
Against this backdrop, two constitutionally sound and urgently required reforms emerge:
(i) enactment of a separate Right to Information Act for Jammu & Kashmir, or
(ii) establishment of a regional bench of the Central Information Commission in Jammu & Kashmir.
Both options are legally tenable.
Competence of the J&K Legislative Assembly to enact a separate RTI Act
Under Section 32 of the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir is empowered to legislate on all subjects in the Concurrent List and on all subjects in the State List except “Police” and “Public Order.”
The subject of Right to Information clearly flows from Entry 12 of the Concurrent List, which deals with public records and access to information. Therefore, there is no constitutional bar on the J&K Assembly enacting its own RTI legislation.
Since Parliament has already enacted the Central RTI Act, any UT-specific RTI law would require Presidential assent under Article 254(2). However, the legislative competence itself is unquestionable.
A Jammu & Kashmir RTI Act could restore local accountability by providing a dedicated J&K Information Commission, Benches at Jammu and Srinagar, Time-bound disposal of appeals, Effective enforcement of penalty provisions, Enhanced proactive disclosure obligations and Accessibility for rural and border populations.
Such a law would not dilute national transparency standards; it would strengthen them by restoring proximity and deterrence.
Power of the Central Information Commission to establish regional benches
Even in the absence of a separate UT RTI Act, the present opacity can be remedied through executive action alone. The Supreme Court, in Central Information Commission v. Delhi Development Authority & Another, 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 465, has clearly recognised that the Central Information Commission is a statutory adjudicatory body with the power to regulate its own procedure and function through Benches. The Court acknowledged that nothing in the RTI Act restricts the CIC to a single location or mandates that it must sit only at Delhi.
This power flows from Section 12(4) and Section 12(5) of the RTI Act, read with Sections 18 and 19, which confer appellate and complaint jurisdiction without geographical limitation.
The legal position is thus unambiguous. Establishment of a regional or circuit bench of the CIC for Jammu & Kashmir does not require any legislative amendment. It can be achieved through administrative decision and logistical support from the Central Government.
Continued failure to establish such a bench, despite known delays and systemic non-compliance, can itself be characterised as arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 19(1)(a). From a policy perspective, this is the most realistic and immediately achievable reform.
The broader democratic concern cannot be ignored. Jammu & Kashmir is already governed under a centralised administrative framework, where police, public order, and key executive powers vest with the Union through the Lieutenant Governor. In such a system, RTI becomes one of the few remaining instruments through which ordinary citizens can question authority. Weakening this instrument further deepens the democratic deficit.
Transparency cannot be centrally managed from distant offices. It must be locally enforced. Whether through a separate RTI Act for Jammu & Kashmir or through a regional bench of the Central Information Commission, what is urgently required is restoration of institutional proximity between citizens and accountability mechanisms. Without this, bureaucracy will continue to operate unchecked, Article 19 will remain restricted in practice, and public confidence in governance will erode further.
Democracy does not survive on statutes alone. It survives on access, oversight, and the citizen’s ability to ask questions and to receive timely answers. Jammu & Kashmir deserves that right, not as a theoretical promise, but as a living reality.
(The author is a Jammu based advocate, RTI Activist and Convener, Research and Advocacy Group-RAAG)
The Right to Information is not merely a statutory privilege conferred by Parliament but it is a constitutional facet of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. Transparency is the bedrock of democratic governance. When citizens are denied timely access to information, accountability collapses, and bureaucracy begins to function in insulation rather than service.
Following the reorganisation of the erstwhile State into a Union Territory, the Central Right to Information Act, 2005 was extended to Jammu & Kashmir. While this transition was presented as a step towards uniform governance, its practical consequences have been deeply regressive for transparency and citizen oversight.
The most damaging change has been the elimination of local adjudication.
Prior to reorganisation, Jammu & Kashmir had its own State Information Commission. Appeals and complaints were heard within the region. Public Information Officers (PIOs) were answerable to Commissioners who were institutionally and geographically proximate. Delays were limited, and the penalty provisions under the RTI law had real deterrent value.
Today, every second appeal and complaint from Jammu & Kashmir must travel to the Central Information Commission in Delhi.This single structural shift has effectively hollowed out the RTI regime in the Union Territory. Applicants routinely wait two to three years for their matters to be listed. By the time hearings occur, the concerned PIOs have often been transferred, promoted, or retired. Files change custodians. Institutional memory fades. Citizens lose interest. What remains is a right without remedy and a process without consequence.
Public authorities are fully conscious of this vacuum. They know that non-compliance carries no immediate cost. They know that the statutory penalties under Section 20 of the RTI Act have become largely unenforceable due to distance and delay. As a result, statutory timelines are ignored with impunity, evasive replies are issued as a matter of routine, and information is denied casually. This has led to systemic non-transparency and dangerous bureaucratic empowerment.
Departments now function with minimal fear of disclosure. Government functioning, and decision making processes remain opaque. Development works escape citizen scrutiny. Welfare schemes operate behind closed doors. Land records, contracts, and expenditure details are withheld without hesitation. The disciplinary force that RTI once exercised over governance has largely disappeared in Jammu & Kashmir. In effect, the Union Territory today operates in an RTI vacuum.
The constitutional implications are grave. The Supreme Court has consistently held that the right to information flows from Article 19(1)(a). However, a right is meaningful only when accompanied by an effective and accessible remedy. When enforcement mechanisms are rendered so distant and sluggish that information becomes practically unattainable, the right itself stands diluted. What exists today in Jammu & Kashmir is constructive denial of the Right to Information.
This arrangement also offends the principle of equality. Citizens in States have access to nearby State Information Commissions. Citizens in Jammu & Kashmir must depend entirely on a Commission sitting hundreds of kilometres away, burdened with appeals from across the country. This geographic and administrative imbalance creates an unreasonable classification among citizens, undermining both Article 14 and Article 19.
Against this backdrop, two constitutionally sound and urgently required reforms emerge:
(i) enactment of a separate Right to Information Act for Jammu & Kashmir, or
(ii) establishment of a regional bench of the Central Information Commission in Jammu & Kashmir.
Both options are legally tenable.
Competence of the J&K Legislative Assembly to enact a separate RTI Act
Under Section 32 of the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir is empowered to legislate on all subjects in the Concurrent List and on all subjects in the State List except “Police” and “Public Order.”
The subject of Right to Information clearly flows from Entry 12 of the Concurrent List, which deals with public records and access to information. Therefore, there is no constitutional bar on the J&K Assembly enacting its own RTI legislation.
Since Parliament has already enacted the Central RTI Act, any UT-specific RTI law would require Presidential assent under Article 254(2). However, the legislative competence itself is unquestionable.
A Jammu & Kashmir RTI Act could restore local accountability by providing a dedicated J&K Information Commission, Benches at Jammu and Srinagar, Time-bound disposal of appeals, Effective enforcement of penalty provisions, Enhanced proactive disclosure obligations and Accessibility for rural and border populations.
Such a law would not dilute national transparency standards; it would strengthen them by restoring proximity and deterrence.
Power of the Central Information Commission to establish regional benches
Even in the absence of a separate UT RTI Act, the present opacity can be remedied through executive action alone. The Supreme Court, in Central Information Commission v. Delhi Development Authority & Another, 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 465, has clearly recognised that the Central Information Commission is a statutory adjudicatory body with the power to regulate its own procedure and function through Benches. The Court acknowledged that nothing in the RTI Act restricts the CIC to a single location or mandates that it must sit only at Delhi.
This power flows from Section 12(4) and Section 12(5) of the RTI Act, read with Sections 18 and 19, which confer appellate and complaint jurisdiction without geographical limitation.
The legal position is thus unambiguous. Establishment of a regional or circuit bench of the CIC for Jammu & Kashmir does not require any legislative amendment. It can be achieved through administrative decision and logistical support from the Central Government.
Continued failure to establish such a bench, despite known delays and systemic non-compliance, can itself be characterised as arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 19(1)(a). From a policy perspective, this is the most realistic and immediately achievable reform.
The broader democratic concern cannot be ignored. Jammu & Kashmir is already governed under a centralised administrative framework, where police, public order, and key executive powers vest with the Union through the Lieutenant Governor. In such a system, RTI becomes one of the few remaining instruments through which ordinary citizens can question authority. Weakening this instrument further deepens the democratic deficit.
Transparency cannot be centrally managed from distant offices. It must be locally enforced. Whether through a separate RTI Act for Jammu & Kashmir or through a regional bench of the Central Information Commission, what is urgently required is restoration of institutional proximity between citizens and accountability mechanisms. Without this, bureaucracy will continue to operate unchecked, Article 19 will remain restricted in practice, and public confidence in governance will erode further.
Democracy does not survive on statutes alone. It survives on access, oversight, and the citizen’s ability to ask questions and to receive timely answers. Jammu & Kashmir deserves that right, not as a theoretical promise, but as a living reality.
(The author is a Jammu based advocate, RTI Activist and Convener, Research and Advocacy Group-RAAG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
