At least four of the 29 information commissions in India are completely defunct, says a report of the Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), an organisation trying to hold the government accountable vis-a-vis the Right to Information Act, 2005.
https://thewire.in/government/satark-nagrik-sangathan-report-card-information-commission-rti
Jharkhand, Telangana, Mizoram and Tripura have had no information commission with the incumbents retiring. Jharkhand has been without a commission for the past three years and Tripura for two years.
Anjali Bhardwaj from the SNS, who was a key person in compiling the report, says, “A consistent behaviour of the government we have seen since 2014 is no information commissioner is ever appointed till civil society moves [the courts]. It’s only at the court’s direction that the government is forced to move.”
Amrita Johri, also of the SNS, says, “A good way to crush the citizen’s fundamental right to information is by making information commissions defunct. With no one to appeal to, an application for information gathers dust till it has no meaning left.”
by Meetu Jain
13/10/2023