New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (January 7) said the sanctioned posts in the Central/State Information Commissions need to be filled and questioned what is the use of creating an institution when there is no person to carry out the duties perceives.>

The court made the comments at a time when Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh were hearing a PIL filed by activist Anjali Bhardwaj and others raising the issue of various vacancies in the CIC and SICs.>

“Whatever sanctioned posts there are in the Central/State Information Commissions…they need to be filled…otherwise, what is the use of setting up an institution if it does not have people to discharge the functions,” Justice Kant said in response to the petitions of advocate Prashant Bhushan that the failure of state governments to fill the vacancies in the commissions is destroying the very basis of the RTI Act, he reported LiveLaw.>

“Everyone is interested in abolishing the Right to Information Act because no one wants to reveal any information and the easiest way to abolish it is to completely disable these information commissions.” This is how they have the RTI Act nullified,” said Bhushan, who represented the petitioners.>

The Supreme Court, based on the status reports of various states, observed that while most states had initiated the selection process to fill the vacancies in the commissions, there was no commitment to a timetable within which appointments should be made.>

The court ordered that the list of applicants be communicated within a week and the composition of the search committee (along with the criteria prescribed for the shortlist) within a week thereafter. The timetable within which the discussions are to be completed will be communicated. This may not be more than six weeks from the date of announcement of the composition of the search committee and the criteria. After receiving the recommendations, the responsible authority will review the recommendations and arrange appointments within two weeks.>

“All states have to separately ascertain the total pendency before the information commissions and this information will also be provided,” the court added.>