Government today told Delhi High Court that pendency of cases in the Central Information Commission (CIC) has declined after the recent appointment of an information commissioner and elevation of another as Chief Information Commissioner.
The submission was made before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw by central government standing counsel Jasmeet Singh, appearing for the DoPT, Ministry of Personnel.
Singh also told the court that the government has undertaken the exercise of conducting interviews to fill up vacancies in the transparency panel, including for the post of Chief Information Commissioner as the current one will retire on December 1.
The court was hearing an application filed in a PIL moved by RTI activists R K Jain, Lokesh Batra and Subhash Chandra Agarwal who have sought filling up of posts of Chief IC and subordinate staff in a time-bound frame.
The court had reserved its verdict on the PIL on May 21. Today it said it would also pass orders on the application filed by the petitioners.
During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, opposed the government's contentions and claimed that with the inviting of applications afresh to fill up the vacancies, it was trying to "frustrate" the Right to Information Act.
He said the government should fill up the vacancies from the applications received so far instead of starting the process afresh as then it would take at least another six months for anyone to be appointed.
The petitioners have claimed that after the two new appointments mentioned by the government, three vacancies of Information Commissioners were left unfilled "despite assurance given on May 21 by Additional Solicitor General on behalf of the Union of India that all the vacancies at CIC would be filled".
"Now, further three months have elapsed and the three Information Commissioners have not been appointed," the application has said, seeking setting aside of the government circular inviting fresh applications to fill up the vacancies.
On May 21, the government had told the court that candidates for the posts of Chief IC and Information Commissioners have been shortlisted and granted vigilance clearance.
