RTI activists say government ‘killing people’s right to information’
NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Monday expressed concern over the continuing delay in the appointment of Information Commissioners at both the Central and State levels, a lapse that has crippled the functioning of the transparency mechanism created under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The matter came up before a bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Bagchi, which heard arguments from Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioners. Bhushan pointed out that the Central Information Commission (CIC) — the top body adjudicating appeals and complaints under the RTI Act — has been functioning without a Chief Information Commissioner for over a month, and with only two commissioners since September 14, 2025.
He informed the court that eight out of ten sanctioned posts of Information Commissioners remain vacant, with the last appointments having been made in November 2023. “The backlog in the CIC has now reached nearly 30,000 cases. Citizens who file appeals or complaints are forced to wait for more than a year for hearings. This completely defeats the purpose of the RTI Act, which was enacted to ensure time-bound access to information,” Bhushan said.
The bench was also informed that the situation in many State Information Commissions is equally grim. Both the Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh commissions are currently defunct, while several others are operating with multiple vacancies despite huge backlogs. Bhushan argued that the failure of governments to make timely appointments amounted to “killing people’s Right to Information,” and that such negligence was eroding public faith in transparency institutions.
Along with the submissions in court, the petitioners also placed before the bench a table showing the current vacancies and pending cases across the Central and State Information Commissions. The data painted a bleak picture, with many commissions functioning at less than half their sanctioned strength.
The hearing in the Supreme Court comes shortly after a letter was sent by activists and transparency advocates to the prime minister and the Leader of Opposition, urging them to take immediate action to fill all vacancies in the Central Information Commission.
Earlier RTI activists Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri and others sent a letter to the Prime Minister and the
Leader of Opposition regarding appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner and information commissioners in the Central Information Commission. They said the government was killing the Commission by delaying appointments.
The letter, also addressed to the members of the high-powered selection committee, reads:
“The CIC has been functioning with only two Information Commissioners since September 14, 2025. The post of the chief and eight commissioners are vacant. The eight posts of Information Commissioners have been vacant since November 2023. As a result, the backlog of appeals and complaints has been increasing and is now nearly 30,000. Consequently, people are having to wait for a long time for disposal of their appeals and complaints. This negates the very purpose of the RTI Act, which is to ensure time-bound access to information.”
The letter urged the committee to act urgently and transparently, stating: “We request that all vacancies in the Central Information Commission — the Chief and the eight Information Commissioners — be filled immediately by making appointments in a transparent manner. The government must ensure that the Commission functions effectively so that citizens are not denied their fundamental right to information.”
Activists argue that the Right to Information Act (2005), one of India’s most significant transparency reforms, is being slowly undermined by administrative neglect and deliberate inaction. The non-appointment of commissioners, they say, has turned the commissions into powerless bodies, leaving thousands of RTI applicants without redress.
“The government is killing the RTI law by simply not allowing it to function,” one activist remarked outside the court. “When citizens’ appeals pile up for years, the promise of transparency becomes meaningless.”
The Supreme Court has sought details from the Centre on the timeline for filling up the posts and may issue further directions in the next hearing. For millions of Indians who rely on the RTI law to hold authorities accountable, the outcome of this case could determine whether transparency in governance continues to survive or slips deeper into administrative paralysis.
