The Supreme Court has put a stay on May 21 order of Delhi high court (HC) which had taken away the powers of the central information commission (CIC) to form benches to hear RTI pleas.

According to the RTI act 2005, the chief information commissioner of the CIC has the power to manage the affairs of the commission. This includes power to allocate work to different information commissioners.

The Delhi High Court had quashed the CIC (Management) Regulations, 2007, constituted by the CIC. 

The HC had also observed that the chief information commissioner had no power to constitute benches of the commission.

In its special leave petition (SLP) filed before the supreme court, the CIC had said “The effect of the HC order is to entirely disrupt the smooth working of the commission and performance of its statutory duties mandated to it by Parliament under the Act."

The bench, however, stayed only that part of the HC order which had stopped the CIC from constituting benches for allocation of work.