CHENNAI: Flagging ‘abysmal’ performance of the Tamil Nadu Information Commission, pro-transparency NGO Arappor Iyakkam on Tuesday shot off a letter to the chief secretary to appoint additional information commissioners (SICs) and rectify the issues to improve transparency and accountability.
The commission is a quasi-judicial body which hears complaints and appeals filed by citizens who have been denied information under the RTI Act by state government institutions. Under the RTI Act, the panel hears the second appeal and complaints filed by applicants and has the power to ensure compliance of RTI, investigate complaints, and order inquiries into matters related to RTI.
Arappor Iyakkam’s convener Jayaram Venkatesan alleged that there was a huge delay in the panel hearing second appeals. Analysis of the commission’s judgments from December 2024 and January 2025 shows that 45-47% of applicants have to wait 2-3 years to get a ruling on their cases, Jayaram said.
Only 10% of the applicants get a hearing within a year of filing an appeal with the panel, the NGO said in their representation, while 7-8% of applicants face a delay of more than three years.
While the panel has heard 13,966 cases from January to September 2024, penalty has been imposed only in 21 cases and compensation and disciplinary actions ordered only in 96 and 15 cases respectively, the NGO said.
“So while the appellant waits for several years, action against the public official as per section 20 of the RTI Act is in less than 1% of the cases. This means that the state information commission’s orders don’t have a deterrent effect on government officials who either reject or don’t give information,” the NGO said.
Another issue raised by the NGO was the slow pace of work and alleged lack of commitment by information commissioners. Stating that each commissioner hears only 200-250 cases a month, Arappor questioned the poor output, pointing out that high court judges hear around 50-100 cases a day, and even write and deliver judgments.
Currently the state information commission has one chief commissioner – Shakeel Akhtar – and four commissioners, against the sanctioned strength of six. Arappor urged the government to appoint two more commissioners. They claimed that a search committee had already recommended some names in October 2024.
The state information panel could not be reached for comment.