Info commission helps cut backlog in courts

The state information commission, set up in 2005, acts as a tool to redress public grievances. It has 10 information commissioners and is led by a chief information commissioner. It has a pendency of 2,129 cases with about 500 new cases every month.

“The cases take three to 10 sittings and most reach a conclusive end, leaving less scope for litigation in civil and high courts,” says a commission member, requesting anonymity. He says the flow of information is slow. Initially, public information officers (PIOs) tend to deny information, a trend chief information commissioner SS Channy accepts. “The flow of information is fine but some people in the government take unusually long,” he says.

Surinder Awasthi, a former commissioner, says, “The commission shouldn’t become a tool for right to information (RTI) activists. Litigants should appear with different kinds of pleas not a particular set of them.” The commission should also not become a place to park politicians who can’t be adjusted elsewhere.

Members want their pay and perks revised in keeping with the latest pay panel recommendations. They sought parity in distribution of departments among the commissioners.

Litigants say in a few important cases, all the commission did was to transfer them from one court to another.

The flow of information is fine but some people in the government take unusually long SS CHANNY, chief information commissioner