The Delhi High Court today told the government that it cannot keep major positions vacant for a long time and sought its reply on a PIL seeking filling up of the posts of Chief Information Commissioners and three Information Commissioners at Central Information Commission which has led to massive backlog of cases.
A bench of Cheif Justice G Rohini and Rajiv Sahai Endlaw asked Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for the government to take instruction by tomorrow, detailing the status of the appointment process.
"You have already taken sufficient time. You cannot keep such a important position vacant for so long. There is nothing to delay in the appointments," the court said, while noting that the pendency at "CIC has shot up to a whopping 37,650 appeals/complaints".
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It was also of the view that the government should not take much time on appointing a Chief Information Commissioners (Chief IC) and three Information Commissioners (ICs).
The court's oral direction to the government was issued on the PIL filed by RTI activists R K Jain, Lokesh K Batra and Subhash Chandra Agarwal alleging that no action has been taken on the issue despite two "distress" letters written by the Central Information Commissioner (CIC) to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
"The post of Chief IC at CIC is lying vacant since August 23, 2014. The post of three ICs is also lying vacant for almost one year. Thus CIC has been kept headless... There are only seven ICs functioning, as of now," the plea claimed.
The public interest litigation filed through lawyers Prashant Bhushan and Pranav Sachdeva, sought filling up of posts of Chief IC and subordinate staff in a time-bound frame.
"The proper functioning of the institution of the CIC is essential for the proper implementation of the RTI Act. The government has attempted to stifle the functioning of the RTI Act by failing to do its statutory duty, i.E. To appoint Chief IC and ICs.
