Is Right to Information regime losing steam in its 16th year?

Is Right to Information regime losing steam in its 16th year?


Nov 1, 2020

(Economic Times)

On October 12, 2005, the first Right to Information (RTI) query was filed in a police station of Pune, heralding a new age of freedom of information and transparency.

Widely acclaimed as one of the strongest legislations in the world, the RTI Act firmly established India’s democratic credentials in the world. Transparency and accountability, the two key words in the preamble of the Act, are the guiding light of the RTI regime, celebrated its 15th anniversary on October 12.

But then, does it indeed have reasons to celebrate? The regime has reached the crossroads with its premier institution, the Central Information Commission (CIC), functioning headless for two months again after the last chief demitted office. In the last six years, this is the fifth time that the Commission has functioned without the chief and every time the court had to be moved for direction to fill up vacancies. Even now there are five commissioners instead of the sanctioned strength of 11. With the prime minister-led committee clearing the appointment of Yashvardhan Sinha as chief and Uday Mahurkar as information commissioner, there would still be five commissioners and one chief in the Commission. The CIC is hobbling with a burden of 36,000 pending cases. With 23,000 appeals/complaints registered last year alone, the pendency will soon become chaotic. Critical appeals are pending for immediate hearing, when one appeal takes one and a half years on average to be heard. Virtual hearings have slowed down the process still further.

Across the country, the situation is no better. Around six million RTI queries are filed annually. Huge differences are noticeable in disposal time of second appeals by the various state information commissions (SICs). Some commissions just stopped working during the initial pandemic days. The exact number of cases pending at all-India level is not available because all SICs do not post their data. The situation in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka is, however, alarming, with the figures being around 50,000, 45000 and 25,000 respectively. Some SICs do not even post their vacancies. Most of them, headed by ex-chief secretaries, have started resembling yet another set of non-descript government undertakings.

Meanwhile, the flow of information to people under the Act is often not smooth. Information on PM Cares Fund, demonetisation, Cabinet note on EWS reservation quota of 10% was disallowed. Queries by Venkatesh Nayak, an intrepid crusader of RTI, on electoral bonds have still not been answered and his second appeal is now coming up for hearing. According to activists, the Prime Minister’s Office and ministries of home and external affairs are particularly reluctant to release information and seek exemptions under Section 8 of the Act. Recently, the CIC had to order the NIC to give information on the details of Aarogya Setu after CPIOs expressed ignorance on a simple RTI query on the subject.

The common man looks up to the various information commissions for furnishing information and setting things right. However, most commissions first have to set their own house in order. Either they are not in full strength or their pendency is too huge. With most commissions, helmed by ex-babus, landmark decisions against the government are rare.

Further, amendments to the RTI Act last year, altering the salary and tenure of information commissioners, downgraded their status and autonomy. And, finally, the commissions are still seeking their identity as an administrative or judicial one, under the tag of quasi-judicial. Should they follow the administrative path to reduce pendency, judicial process will be overlooked and, if the judicial approach is adopted, clearing of pendency will take inordinate time.
 

The central and state commissions have to resolve this dilemma since hearings after two years become meaningless. This delay is being utilised perniciously by some departments and public sector units to their advantage. Often important information is stored at senior levels by officers who do not wish to part with it. With posting tenures of around two years, they have retired or happily ensconced somewhere else by the time of hearing. Delay in giving information in time often leads to denial of justice to the citizens and is causing acute discontent in various quarters.

Ministries have complained of intrusive queries prying on private information and of busybodies seeking a mass of information on irrelevant matters. But these are attendant risks of any legislation and can be well managed, as they constitute barely 4% of the total. According to a study conducted by the CHRI, information officers on average received 42 queries in 2012-13 as compared to 68 in 2018-19. Five to six queries per month for each officer is hardly a burden by any standard.

The RTI Act is a sunshine legislation meant to eradicate corruption and promote transparency. In its 16th year, information commissions urgently need an elixir to reinvigorate themselves. They serve as a vital tool in enriching our democracy and making it more relevant. India’s image in the comity of nations will be further enhanced by empowering its people with free flow of information. Read More