Are Information Commissions becoming a store house of appeals?
25 Dec, 2012It has been reported that there were nearly 35,000 appeals pending with the State Information Commission (SIC) of Uttar Pradesh at the end of March 2012. Against the sanctioned strength of 10 Information Commissioners, there are only three Information Commissioners working at the Uttar Pradesh SIC. Following the Supreme Court judgment in Namit Sharma case, filling of vacancies in the SIC has been kept in abeyance. Against nearly 250 appeals being filed in the Information Commission every day, the disposal is less than 100 per day.
The pendency of appeals and complaints being filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 is rising rapidly in many Information Commissions across the country. Would such a situation lead to loss of faith in the system?