Right to Information Act (RTI) a powerful law enacted in year 2005 for better governance in the country. RTI law is backed by Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution of India which talks about freedom of speech and expression. For proper usage of this right one should have proper information about the Public Authority. Public Authority carries wider meaning than only government. There are two objectives of RTI Act, 2005, one is to bring transparency and accountability in governance and other one is to setting up of Central Information Commission (CIC) and State Information Commission (SIC) to hear appeals and complaints. There are lot of peculiarities in working of CIC and various SICs. Some state commissions are performing exceptionally well whereas some are lagging behind. Most of the state information commission offices are facing challenges in terms of vacancies which ultimately leading to backlog of appeals and complaints. Second biggest challenge is appointment of efficient Information Commissioners who can dispose cases in effective way and in timely manner. There are Information Commissioners who have given landmarks orders and disposed off large number of cases. Thus we can see the role of information commissioner is crucial for successful implementation of RTI Act, 2005. Present paper will critically analyze working of Information Commission at central and state level alongwith some important orders delivered by CIC and SIC.

1. Ph. D. Scholar GNLUPh. D. Scholar GNLU
KALPESHKUMAR L GUPTAKALPESHKUMAR L GUPTA
UGC Sponsored National Seminar
on Evaluating the Six and Half
Decades of the Constitution of
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Information Commissions have become the biggest
threat to the transparency movement.
Shri Shailesh Gandhi
Former Central Information Commissioner, New Delhi

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Outline of the presentation
1.Introduction
2.Legal Provisions
3.Some Leading Orders
4.Recent Scenario
5.Conclusion &
Recommendations
6.Q & A
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4. (C) K L GUPTA(C) K L GUPTA
Outline of the presentation
1.Introduction
2.Legal Provisions
3.Some Leading Orders
4.Recent Scenario
5.Conclusion &
Recommendations
6.Q & A
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Introduction
- Right to Information is enshrined under Article 19(1)(a) of
Constitution of India
- RTI Act, 2005 passed on June 15, 2015 and came
into force October 12, 2005
- Objectives are
- to bring the transparency and accountability in the
governance and
- setting up of Central Information Commission & State
Information Commission
- 1.75 crore RTI applications filed since 2005 : Study*
- 4800 applications are filled everyday *
* http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/1-75-crore-rti-applications-filed-since-
2005-study/articleshow/54705694.cms

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Application
Section 6
1st
Appeal
Section 19
2nd
Appeal
Section 19
Complaint
(Section 18)

7. (C) K L GUPTA(C) K L GUPTA
Outline of the presentation
1.Introduction
2.Legal Provisions
3.Some Leading Orders
4.Recent Scenario
5.Conclusion &
Recommendations
6.Q & A
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Legal Provisions
- Central Govt. constituted the Central Information
Commission under Section 12
- State Govt. constituted the State Information Commission
under Section 15
- There will be one Chief Information Commissioner and other
Information Commissioners not exceeding 10.
- Term is for 5 years
- Not eligible for reappointment

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Section 12 Section 15

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Outline of the presentation
1.Introduction
2.Legal Provisions
3.Some Leading Orders
4.Recent Scenario
5.Conclusion &
Recommendations
6.Q & A
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Some Leading Orders
- CBSE & Ors v/s. Aditya Bandopadhyay (SC 2011)
- Answer Sheet case
- Secretary General, SC of India v/s. Subhash Chandra
Agrawal, Delhi HC, 2010)
- Judges Asset Case
- Subhash Chandra Aggarwal & Anil Bairwal v/s. INC,
BJP,CPM, CPI, NCP, BSP, Central Information
Commission, 2013
- Political Parties
- BCCI
- Not Public Authority as per CIC Decision 2011
- Justice Lodha Committee submitted report to SC for taking
control of BCCI.
- O P Gandhi v/s. Tihar Jail (CIC, September 27, 2016)
- Tihar Jail Compensation case

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Some Leading Orders
There are various other orders in which information commission
decided matters on following issues.
 Whether an organization is a public authority or not?
 Whether matter is in public interest or not?
 Striking the balance between private information and public
information
 Whether information is held under fiduciary relationship or not?
 And finally matter relating to non reply of application, aggrieved
from reply etc.

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Outline of the presentation
1.Introduction
2.Legal Provisions
3.Some Leading Orders
4.Recent Scenario
5.Conclusion &
Recommendations
6.Q & A
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Recent Scenario
- Vacancies
- Backlog of cases
- Penalty
- Compensation
- RTI Monitoring & Reporting
- Efficiency of Information Commission

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Source :- Times of India, October 10, 2014

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“Government agencies are trying to avoid true
information one way or another, they are
misinterpreting the questions knowingly and very skilfully
and sometimes state information commission is also
favouring and protecting them as head of organization
and commissioners are IAS officers”
Yash Dave

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“As far Gujarat is concerned, I have no words to criticize
or blame. Here, commissioners are agents of government
and are reluctant to impose penalty enough and to
direct the govt. to initiate inquiries against defaulting
PIOs. Please keep category in bad survey”
Natvarlal Acharya

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“Number of appeals rotting in Karnataka State
Information Commission. The useless Information
Commissioner sitting there are not interested in
disposing of any of the cases filed and I do not know why
they are there and what for the Government is paying
them”
Hanglur Srinivas Varma

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Outline of the presentation
1.Introduction
2.Legal Provisions
3.Some Leading Orders
4.Recent Scenario
5.Conclusion &
Recommendations
6.Q & A
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Conclusion
- Performance of Information Commissions is not encouraging.
- Thousands are appeals/complaints are pending across the
India
- In the recent global RTI ranking India slipped to 4th
rank.
Earlier it was at 2nd
Rank

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Conclusion
Ranking Country
1 Mexico
2 Serbia
3 Slovenia
4 India
5 Croatia
6 Liberia
7 El Salvador
8 Sierra Leone
9 Sri Lanka
10 Tunisia
http://www.rti-rating.org/
2016 Rankings

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Recommendations
- RTI application/appeal format standardization
- Various payment option for RTI application fees
- Benches of commissions to be established as per need
- Video conferencing facility to be installed in the office of
Information Commissions
- Vacancies to be filled up
- Proper training to PIO/Appellate Authority so that they can
handle the case effectively
- Robust centralised online application/appeal mechanism to be
set up
- Helpline centre for RTI application/appeal
- SMS alert for case hearing
- Intensive campaign for RTI awareness as per Section 26

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Click on State RTI
Portal
Click on District
Click on PA/FC
Online RTI Application Flow

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Information Commissioners in his individual capacity
Recommendations
Ratnakar Gaikwad
Maharashtra State
Chief Information
Commissioner
March 2014 heard
759 appeals
Shailesh Gandhi
Former Central
Information
Commissioner
Prof M Sridhar
Central
Information
Commissioner
Paperless office
In 97% cases on
the spot decision
Remarkable/Quality
Orders
Timely Case
Disposal

26. (C) K L GUPTA(C) K L GUPTA
Outline of the presentation
1.Introduction
2.Legal Provisions
3.Some Leading Orders
4.Recent Scenario
5.Conclusion &
Recommendations
6.Q & A
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Any question ?

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New Delhi, June 20, 2016
“CIC may have its head soon”, The Hindu, New Delhi May 10, 2015 retrieved from
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Dhawan Himanshi (2014), “RTI backlog burden: Waiting period 60 years in MP, 17 in West Bengal”,
The Times of India, TNN, October 10, 2014, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/RTI-backlog-
burden-Waiting-period-60-years-in-MP-17-in-West-Bengal/articleshow/44766766.cms
Mehta Manthan, “ CIC fines babus in less than 1% cases”, The Times of India, October 15, 2011
retrieved from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/CIC-fines-babus-in-less-than-1-
cases/articleshow/10359854.cms on October 5, 2016
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applications-decline-cic-imposes-fewer-penalties retrieved from October 5, 2016
Retrieved from http://www.livelaw.in/public-authoritiesstate-must-compensate-victims-extra-
detention-violates-right-life-cic/ on October 9, 2016
Biswas Partha Sarathi (2016), “Defying RTI, 25 public authorities fail to submit annual returns to
Maharashtra SIC”, The Indian Express, October 17, 2016 retrieved from
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/defying-rti-25-public-authorities-fail-to-
submit-annual-returns-to-maharashtra-sic-3086561/ on October 17, 2016
Pallavi (2012), “Selection of RTI Commissioners flawed, arbitrary: Shailesh Gandhi” retrieved from
http://www.firstpost.com/india/selection-of-rti-commissioners-flawed-arbitrary-shailesh-gandhi-
367915.html
--- (2015) “Transparency In Appointments Of Commissioners Is Answer To RTI Woes” retrieved
from http://www.huffingtonpost.in/shailesh-gandhi-/transparency-in-appointme_b_8283448.html
on October 13, 2016
References :-
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Yadav Shyamlal (2015). “You can’t use RTI to light up every corner: Chief Information
Commissioner Vijai Sharma”, The Indian Express, December 22, 2015
retrieved from http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/you-cant-use-rti-to-light-up-
every-corner-chief-information-commissioner-vijai-sharma/ on October 10, 2016
Office Memorandum No. 1/1/2013-IR, Dated April 22, 2013 available at
http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02rti/1_1_2013-IR-D.pdf accessed on
December 17, 2013
Making the Right to Information a Reality , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDv77HMA7Og
retrieved from October 5, 2016
Shukla Ashutosh (2014), “Maharashtra Information Chief Ratnakar Gaikawad hears 759 appeals in
March, a record for one month”, DNA, April 30, 2014 retrieved from
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-maharashtra-information-chief-ratnakar-gaikwad-hears-
759-appeals-in-march-a-record-for-one-month-1983486 on October 4, 2016
References :-
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30. Kalpeshkumar L Gupta
advocatekgupta@gmail.com
www.klgupta.in
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