Supreme Court orders Centre and States to fill up vacancies in commissions constituted under RTI Act

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Centre and state governments to take steps to fill up vacancies in Central Information Commission and State Informations Commissions constituted under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

A bench, headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra observed that the RTI Act will become a “dead letter” if states fail to fill these vacancies.

The bench posted the matter for hearing after a period of 3 weeks and in the meantime, asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to prepare a common compilation post obtaining data relating to different state commissions.

A plea was filed by RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj alleging non-compliance with guidelines passed by the Supreme Court.

In a judgement rendered in 2019, the apex court ordered Centre and state governments to initiate the process for filling up of vacancies one to two months in advance.

"On proper implementation, it (RTI Act) has the potential to bring about good governance which is an integral part of any vibrant democracy," it had said.

In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court directed that all State Information Commissions (SICs) should make it mandatory to provide the option of hybrid hearings to all litigants and other stakeholders.