pendency of cases

RTI Information Flow Continues to Suffer Due to Vacancies, Tardy Rate of Disposal: Report

The report notes how some Information Commissions return over 40% of cases without orders. Minuscule penalties are imposed on officers not providing replies.

New Delhi: The latest report by Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) on the performance of the 29 Information Commissions set up under the Right to Information Act across the country has revealed a poor state of functioning of most commissions.

The report has noted that while the State Information Commissions of Tripura and Jharkhand have been lying defunct, may others are functioning with significantly fewer than the sanctioned strength of commissioners.

Pendency of cases reaches 3.14 lakh due to tardy rate of disposal, vacancies in Commissions

The report has also pointed out that while the shortage of commissioners has added to the pendency of appeals and complaints that topped the 3.14 lakh mark in June 2022, the tendency of some of the commissions to return nearly 40% of the complaints without any orders, and the tardy pace at which many of the commissioners have been functioning has also been harming the RTI movement.

Writing the report, Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri said a total of 145 RTI applications were filed with the State Information Commissions (SIC) and the Central Information Commission (CIC) and there were 10 main queries that were posed to the panels. The replies received till October 12, 2022, were incorporated in the report that covers the functioning of the panels from July 2021 till June 2022.

“The report,” the SNS said, “is part of an effort to undertake ongoing monitoring of the performance of information commissions across the country with the objective of improving the functioning of commissions and strengthening the RTI regime.”

Also read: Cases Pending Before Information Commissions Mount as Posts Remain Vacant

It added that the need to scrutinise the functioning of information commissions had grown in view of amendments made to the law in 2019 and due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most Commissioners are retired bureaucrats, only 10% women

On the key findings, the Sangathan said “there is lack of diversity in the composition of information commissions” as nearly 60% commissioners were retired government officials and only 10% of them were women. Also, it said, there was no commission that was headed by a woman at present.

It was also revealed that the Commissions were returning a large number of cases without passing any orders. “The CIC, UP SIC and Andhra Pradesh SIC returned around 40% of the appeals/complaints received by them,” it added.

Less than one case a day being disposed by some Commissioners

On the amount of work being put in by the Commissioners too, the report commented on a “tardy disposal rate”.

It said “several commissions have an extremely low rate of disposal per commissioner. For instance, the SIC of West Bengal had an annual average disposal rate of 222 cases per commissioner – each commissioner effectively disposing fewer than one case a day – even though more than 10,000 cases were pending.”

The report said that out of the Commissions, it was only the Central Information Commission that has set a norm on the number of appeals and complaints to be disposed of by each commissioner in a year.

Earlier in October this year, the SNS had also released a ‘report card’ on the performance of the 29 Commissions in which it had stated among other things that the number of pending cases have gone up by 59,000 in the past year.

The report had stated that “large backlog of appeals and complaints in many commissions across the country have resulted in inordinate delays in disposal of cases, which render the law ineffective.”

Two Commissions remained defunct, four functioned without a chief

This ‘Report Card’ had revealed that while two of the information commissions – Jharkhand and Tripura – still remained completely defunct during the year, as no new commissioners have been appointed upon the incumbents demitting office, Meghalaya had moved out of the list over the past year.

The report had added that another four commissions are functioning without a chief information commissioner. These were the SICs of Manipur, Telangana, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.

Also read: Over 26,500 RTI Appeals Pending with Information Commission: Centre

The report had also noted that several information commissions have been functioning at reduced capacity. “The non-appointment of commissioners in the ICs in a timely manner leads to a large build-up of pending appeals and complaints,” it said.

Overall, the report had pointed out how the backlog of appeals/complaints has been steadily increasing in the commissions – growing from 255,602 appeals pending before 26 information commissions last year, to 314,323 appeals pending as on June 30 this year. This marked a rise of nearly a lakh more pending cases in a year.

Reluctance to impose penalties on erring PIOs remains

The report had also lamented that that the Commissions still remained reluctant in imposing penalties on officers where they could be imposed. “The RTI Act empowers the ICs to impose penalties of up to Rs 25,000 on erring PIOs for violations of the RTI Act. The penalty clause is one of the key provisions in terms of giving the law its teeth and acting as a deterrent for PIOs against violating the law,” it said, adding that “the assessment found that ICs imposed penalty in an extremely small fraction of the cases in which penalty was imposable”.

This year, the report stated, the analysis of penalties imposed by Information Commissions shows that the commissions did not impose penalties in 95% of the cases where penalties were potentially imposable. Last year too, the percentage of penalties imposed was exactly the same and this shows that neither the CIC nor the SICs have acted on the matter.

Cases Pending Before Information Commissions Mount as Posts Remain Vacant

A new report says that two state information panels remain defunct and that the number of pending cases have gone up by 59,000 in the past year.

New Delhi: With some State Information Commissions (SICs) being completely defunct and others working without a chief information commissioner or with a reduced strength of information commissions, the pendency of cases before the panels has shot up by nearly 59,000 in the past year, a comparative analysis of the latest report on their functioning has revealed.

The citizens’ group Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) has produced report cards on the performance of the information commissions in India for the past many years. The idea behind the exercise has been to highlight their key role in providing information to people under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and the causes behind the shortcomings in the delivery of such information.

This year too, on the 17th anniversary of the enactment of the RTI Act, the group came out with a report that analysed the functioning of all 29 information commissions in terms of the number of appeals and complaints registered and disposed of by them, the number of pending cases, estimated waiting time for the disposal of an appeal/complaint filed in each commission, frequency of violations penalised by commissions and transparency in their working.

Writing the report, Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri noted that “seventeen years after the RTI Act was implemented, experience in India, also captured in various national assessments, suggests that the functioning of information commissions is a major bottleneck in the effective implementation of the RTI law. Large backlog of appeals and complaints in many commissions across the country have resulted in inordinate delays in disposal of cases, which render the law ineffective.”

While the report has pointed out the functioning of the 29 information commissions, The Wire looked into how their performance this year compared with the previous one to see if the government has taken any corrective actions.

Also Read: Over 26,500 RTI Appeals Pending with Information Commission: Centre

Two commissions remain completely defunct

The latest ‘Report Card’ for 2021-22 has pointed out that two of the information commissions – Jharkhand and Tripura – still remain completely defunct as no new commissioners have been appointed upon the incumbents demitting office. They were on this list last year too, along with Meghalaya – which has since moved out. “In the absence of functional commissions, information seekers have no reprieve under the RTI Act if they are unable to access information as per the provisions of the law,” the report said.

The report added that another four commissions are functioning without a chief information commissioner. These are the SICs of Manipur, Telangana, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Last year too, Manipur and Telangana did not have a chief information commissioner and neither did Nagaland.

On the significance of this aspect, the report said: “The absence of a chief information commissioner has serious ramifications for the effective functioning of the ICs since the RTI Act envisages a critical role for the chief, including, superintendence, management and direction of the affairs of the information commission.”

Backlog up by nearly a lakh in three years

The report also noted that several information commissions have been functioning at reduced capacity. “The non-appointment of commissioners in the ICs in a timely manner leads to a large build-up of pending appeals and complaints,” it said.

This year, it said, “In the Central Information Commission, three posts of commissioners continue to be vacant even though the backlog of appeals/complaints currently stands at nearly 26,800 cases.”

To explain the impact these vacancies have on the functioning of the commissions, the report cited the example of Maharashtra SIC, which has been functioning with just five information commissioners, including the chief, for the past several months. It said:

“Due to the commission functioning at a severely reduced strength, the number of pending appeals/complaints has risen at an alarming rate. While as of March 31, 2019, close to 46,000 appeals and complaints were pending, the backlog as of May 2021 increased to nearly 75,000 and reached an alarming level of nearly one lakh by June 2022.”

Overall, the report said, the backlog of appeals/complaints has been steadily increasing in the commissions. Last year, there were 255,602 appeals pending before 26 information commissions. This year, as on June 30, the number of pending appeals and complaints had risen to 3,14,323. This is nearly a lakh more than the pendency on March 31, 2019, when this figure stood at 2,18,347 in the 26 information commissions.

Illustration: The Wire

In West Bengal an appeal on average would take over 24 years for disposal

Due to the large pendency of appeals and complaints, the report noted that as of today, 12 commissions have an estimated waiting time of one year or more to dispose of a matter. Last year, the report stated that 13 commissions would take over a year on average to dispose of a matter.

On the impact this has on cases in various SICs, it said: “Using the average monthly disposal rate and the pendency in commissions, the time it would take for an appeal/complaint to be disposed was computed. The assessment shows that West Bengal SIC would take an estimated 24 years and 3 months to dispose a matter.” Similarly, it noted that in Odisha and Maharashtra SICs, estimated time for disposal is now more than 5 years and in Bihar more than 2 years.”

Reluctance to impose penalties on erring PIOs remains

The report said penalties are rarely imposed on public information officers (PIOs), which is why information is not given out on time to the appellants. “The RTI Act empowers the ICs to impose penalties of up to Rs 25,000 on erring PIOs for violations of the RTI Act. The penalty clause is one of the key provisions in terms of giving the law its teeth and acting as a deterrent for PIOs against violating the law,” it said, adding that “the assessment found that ICs imposed penalty in an extremely small fraction of the cases in which penalty was imposable”.

This year, the report said, the analysis of penalties imposed by information commissions shows that the commissions did not impose penalties in 95% of the cases where penalties were potentially imposable. Last year too, the percentage of penalties imposed was exactly the same and this shows that neither the CIC nor the SICs have acted on the matter.

Political Opposition Is Translating Into Hostility, Not Sign of Healthy Democracy: CJI Ramana

Speaking at an event in the Rajasthan assembly, the Chief Justice of India added that the space for the opposition is “diminishing”.

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana on Saturday said that political opposition “translating into hostility” – which the country is currently witnessing – is not a sign of a “healthy democracy”, adding that the space for the opposition is “diminishing”.

According to the Indian Express, addressing an event at the Rajasthan assembly, the country’s top judge said that a strong parliamentary democracy “demands strengthening the opposition as well”. He once again raised the issue of laws being passed now “without detailed deliberation and scrutiny”.

“We must note that India was meant to be a parliamentary democracy and not a parliamentary government, for the core idea of democracy is representation. Dr (B R) Ambedkar cautioned that by parliamentary democracy, we can never infer ‘rule by majority’,” he said, according to IE.

Majority rule is “untenable in theory and unjustifiable in practice”, he added. “The framers decided to opt for a representative democracy. A representative democracy is about effective representation. It is where the minority is not overwhelmed by the majority,” CJI Ramana said.

A diverse opinion enriches polity and society, he said, adding that political opposition should not translate into hostility. “These are not signs of a healthy democracy,” he said, according to IE.

“In an ideal world, it is the cooperative functioning of the government and the Opposition which will lead to a progressive democracy. After all, ‘Project Democracy’ is a joint effort of all the stakeholders,” he added.

Raises issue of undertrial prisoners

Addressing the All India Legal Services Authorities’ Meet earlier in the day, Ramana also expressed concern over the high ratio of undertrial prisoners, adding that “process is the punishment”.

“Out of 6.10 lakh prisoners in India, around 80% are undertrial prisoners. We should question procedures which lead to such prolonged incarceration in huge numbers without a trial,” he said, according to IE.

“In our criminal justice system, the process is the punishment. From hasty, indiscriminate arrests to difficulty in obtaining bail, the process leading to the prolonged incarcerations of undertrials needs urgent attention,” he said.

Speaking at the same event, Union law minister Kiren Rijiju flagged the backlog of 5 crore cases pending in courts. He said the target should be to clear 2 crore cases in two years. “There should be good coordination between the government and the judiciary so that there is no delay in achieving the objective of delivering justice to people,” he said.

“The first question I receive wherever I go is what steps the government is taking to ensure that pendency comes down. This is a challenge and this meeting is a good occasion to discuss it,” Rijiju said.

Responding to the minister’s concern, CJI Ramana said the non-filling up of judicial vacancies was the main reason for the huge pendency of cases.

“I am glad he (Rijiju) has taken up the issue of pendency. We judges also, when we go outside the country, face the same question. You all know the reasons for pendency. I indicated it in the last chief justices-chief ministers conference. You all know the main reason is non-filling of judicial vacancies and not improving the judicial infrastructure,” he said.

Also Read: What Is Stopping Our Justice System From Tackling the Cases Pending Before Courts?

He said the National Legal Services Authority is a success story that settled around 2 crore pre-litigation cases, adding that one crore cases were settled last year and it is a great achievement and best model.

The CJI said judicial officers and judges work hard and apart from their daily judicial duty, they work extra hours on Saturdays and Sundays. He said the judiciary is always ahead in trying to resolve all these issues.

“My request is that the government has to take up this pendency of filling up of vacancies as well as providing infrastructure. NALSA is the best model, it is a success story. So on the same lines, we suggested a judicial infrastructure authority in the last chief justices conference. It has unfortunately not been taken up. I hope that the issue will be revisited,” he added.

Teary Chief Justice Tells Modi He Must Help Reduce Burden on Judiciary

The government should not delay the appointment of judges when there is such a huge pendency of cases, said Justice T.S. Thakur.

Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur during his speech at the joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi on Sunday. Credit: PTI Photo by Shahbaz Khan

New Delhi: The Chief Justice of India, T. S. Thakur became emotional on April 24 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, lamenting his government’s “inaction” in raising the number of judges from 21,000 to 40,000 to handle mounting cases, saying, “you cannot shift the entire burden on the judiciary”.

“Nothing moves”, an unusually emotional Thakur said, recalling a 1987 Law Commission recommendation to increase the number of judges per 10 lakh people from 10 to 50.

“Then comes inaction by the government as the increase (in the strength of judges) does not take place,” he said in a choked voice while addressing the inaugural session of the joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts here on Sunday.

“…And therefore, it is not only in the name of a litigant or people languishing in jails but also in the name of development of the country, its progress, that I beseech you to rise to the occasion and realise that it is not enough to criticise. You cannot shift the entire burden on the judiciary,” the CJI, who was seen wiping his eyes on three occasions, said as the prime minister heard him in rapt attention.

Modi, who was not scheduled to speak as per the programme circulated by the law ministry, said, “I can understand his (CJI’s) pain as a lot of time has lapsed since 1987. Whatever have been the compulsions, its better to be late than never. We will do better in the future. Let us see how to move forward by reducing the burden of the past,” he said.

He said if constitutional barriers do not create any problems, then top ministers and senior Supreme Court judges can sit together in a closed room to find a solution to the issue.

Modi also recalled that in one such conference he had attended as the Gujarat chief minister, he had flagged the issue of reducing vacation time in courts and holding morning and evening courts; but during the lunch break , he said, some judges had questioned his proposal.

Later, addressing a press conference on the day’s deliberations, the CJI admitted that being emotional is his “weakness”.

“One should not be emotional. Justice Kehar [who is likely to be the next CJI] is a strong man. He will not be emotional,” he said.

In his address, the chief justice said that following the Law Commission’s recommendation, the Supreme Court in 2002 had also supported increasing the strength of the judiciary. The parliamentary standing committee on law – then headed by Pranab Mukherjee – had also recommended taking the judges-to-people ratio from 10 per 10 lakh to 50.

The CJI also spoke of the “tug-of-war” that goes on between the Centre and the states over funding, infrastructure and other issues.

As of today, the judge to people ratio stands at 15 judges to 10 lakh people which is way less as compared to the US, Australia, the UK and Canada.

Referring to the pressures Indian judges face, Justice Thakur said that from a munsif to a Supreme Court judge, the average disposal in India is 2,600 cases per annum as compared to 81 cases per annum in the US.

“Old wine in a new bottle will not serve the purpose,” he said, adding that an “emotional appeal” made by him “may work” in getting the government take note of the problems being faced by the judiciary.

Giving out statistics, Justice Thakur said when the apex court came into being in 1950, it had a strength of 8 judges, including the CJI with 1,215 cases pending. Then, he said, the pendency was 100 cases per judge.

In 1960, the strength of the SC rose to 14 judges and the cases also increased to 3,247. In 1977, the strength was 18 and the cases were 14,501. By 2009, as is the case today, the strength of SC judges rose to 31 and the pending cases spiralled by 77,181.

“In 2014, the cases were 81,582 which were reduced to 60,260… On December 2 when I took over as CJI and now, 17,482 cases were filed out of which 16,474 cases were disposed,” he said.

Referring to the pendency of cases, he said the high courts have over 38 lakh cases to dispose and the number is increasing.

According to latest law ministry figures, the approved strength of the subordinate judiciary is 20,214 with 4,580 vacancies. The approved strength of the 24 high courts is 1,056 – where the vacancies are pegged at 458 as on March 1.

In the apex court, there are six vacancies against the sanctioned strength of 31 judges, including the CJI.

Collegium issue

Justice Thakur also said the Supreme Court collegium will respond next week to the government on the revised memorandum of procedure – a document to guide appointment of judges to the apex court and the high courts.

He said the document, prepared by the government to enhance transparency in judicial appointments, will be sent back to the Centre next week with the comments of the SC collegium.

Thakur said external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who headed the group of ministers which drafted the memorandum, had spoken with him on whether the collegium was ready with its response.

He said Swaraj was abroad and the SC judges were busy with their retreat at Bhopal and the chief minister-chief justices conference.

“Now she is back. We will meet her and give our comments,” he said addressing a press conference on the decisions taken at the conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts held here.

On whether the judiciary was ‘okay’ with the text of the memorandum, Justice Thakur said the core of the document, based on a Supreme Court judgment, will remain “unaltered” – that the collegium will make a recommendation.

“Things like the number of judgments a candidate has delivered are contributory in nature,” he said, adding that judiciary is ready for the new document. “We have no problems”.

A day before Holi, the file relating to the draft MoP was sent to the CJI.

The collegium consists of the CJI and four senior judges of the apex court. If the draft is ratified, it would be put in the public domain by the department of justice in the law ministry. If changes are suggested, then the ministry would have to redraft it.

The NDA government wants both the Central and state governments to have their say in recommending candidates for appointment to the higher judiciary.

While delivering its verdict striking down the proposed National Judicial Appointments Commission, the Supreme Court said it was willing to make the collegium system more transparent – and asked the government to rework the MoP in consultation with the states and high courts.

The CJI said the collegium has now cleared all proposals sent to it in six weeks. While 145 judges were either elevated as permanent judges in the high courts or were appointed as additional judges, 169 proposals were still pending with the government, he said.

He wondered why the government was delaying the appointment of judges when there was a huge backlog of cases.

Responding to a question on the delay in clearing names, Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said verification by the Intelligence Bureau takes time.

The CJI was of the view that IB should be asked to submit its report in a fixed timeframe. “The Director, IB should depute more men. The government is very resourceful. In fact, there is no system to track the recommendations made by the collegium. We should have a system to know where the recommendation is. We don’t know whether a secretary is sitting on it or it is with the PMO or the law ministry,” he said.

He said most of the appointments were not fresh in nature. Additional judges have been made permanent judges in most cases. Which means that no fresh appointments were made against vacancies.

“How much time does it require when there is an avalanche of cases,” he had said this morning in his address while referring to delays in appointing judges.

The CJI said 50% of the recommendations made by the high courts were rejected by the collegium as “we have raised the bar”.

Referring to suggestions, including from the Prime Minister, that the judiciary should cut down on its vacations, he said, “We don’t go to Manali. Judges of constitutional benches write their orders… When one side is ready, the other is not. Ask the Bar if they are ready,” he said.