The National Campaign for People’s Right to Information has written to PM Narendra Modi urging him that a key institution like the Central Information Commission can't remain without a head.NEW DELHI: For the first time in 10 years of the RTI act the Central Information Commission (CIC) is headless after the retirement of chief information commissioner Rajiv Mathur on August 22. A petition urging PM Narendra Modi to appoint the CIC has gained some traction garnering over 15,500 signatures in the last few weeks. The delay in appointing a new chief is severely hampering the working of the commission. Not only is there a huge backlog with close to 25,000 appeals and complaints pending, but the commission's orders can be challenged in a court in the absence of the chief.
The petition initiated by National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI)'s Nikhil Dey, Anjali Bharadwaj and Amrita Johri points out, "This ever-increasing backlog of cases challenges the citizen's fundamental Right to Information and creates roadblocks in fighting corruption, big and small. PM Modi, you have often stressed on 'anti-corruption' and 'quest for transparency' as the driving forces of your good governance program. How can then such a key institution to fight corruption remain rudderless?"
Demanding that the position be filled immediately Bharadwaj said, that according to media reports, the delay in appointing a new chief is because there is no leader of opposition. However, the RTI Act clearly states that in the absence of a leader of opposition, the leader of the single largest opposition party should be part of the committee to appoint the new chief.
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