The Rajasthan information commission is not hearing cases for the past four months because there is no chief information commissioner (CIC) in the commission and the information commissioner has refused to work without a superior- the CIC. 

After the enactment of the RTI Act, the Rajasthan commission started functioning with CIC M D Kaurani and information commissioner T Srinivasan.

Since Kaurani’s retirement on April 16, Srinivasan stopped taking any cases saying that the commission cannot function without the CIC.

“The definition of the information commission is CIC plus information commissioners,” said Srinivasan.

As per the RTI Act, the state information commissioners can have one CIC and maximum of ten information commissioners.

However, the Act does not bar the information commissioner (s) from functioning in the absence of the CIC.

In many states the information commissioner has worked as acting CIC.

“They can surely make Srinivasan the acting CIC but they are not doing it,” said Kamal Tak of Rajasthan RTI Manch.

The government not appointing a state CIC in Rajasthan is also adding to the problem.

“There is no justification for not selecting a CIC. It just takes a meeting,” said Shekhar Singh of national campaign for people’s right to information (NCPRI).

Bibhav of the NGO Kabir said, “These are all not excuses for not working. The information commissioner is paid to hear cases and not to work with the CIC. In this case, Srinavasan should not be getting salary.”