HYDERABAD: A division bench of Hyderabad High Court on July 11, 2017, directed both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments to file counter affidavits in two weeks on a PIL seeking directions to appoint Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners whose posts have been lying vacant for the last two months.
The bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice T Rajani was dealing with a PIL by Forum for Good Governance, an NGO of the city, complaining that the State Information Commission has become defunct since April this year.
Petitoner’s counsel B Rachna Reddy told the court that the applications have been piling up for want of commissioners. Telangana advocate general K Ramkrishna Reddy sought some more time to constitute the Information Commission for the state. As the commission falls under the X Scheduled institutions, the issue could be sorted out through discussions by both the states, he added.
As for AP, its advocate general Dammalapati Srinivas submitted that there was a statutory requirement under the RTI Act, 2015 which mandates the respective state governments to constitute the Information Commission in their state. However, being a new state the AP government requires time to set up the commission as it requires infrastructure, funds, staff and so on, he added.
After hearing both the submissions, the bench said that the rights of the people, who need information under the RTI Act, will be affected due to delay in constituting the Information Commission and making the said appointments.While adjourning the case by two weeks, the bench directed both the states to file their counter affidavits in the matter.