Ahmedabad Times

The Division Bench famous, “…the Hon’ble Supreme Courtroom directed the State of Bihar to think about the desirability of an appropriate enhance within the sanctioned power, preserving in view the pendency of just about 30,000 appeals, and to file a response in that regard earlier than the following date of listening to, which was mounted for 28.04.2026.” The court docket requested for a standing replace on the Supreme Courtroom case on the subsequent listening to.

The federal government counsel submitted {that a} comparable matter was earlier than the Supreme Courtroom, in Anjali Bhardwaj vs Union of India, which was disposed of by an order dated February 15, 2019. Nevertheless, Miscellaneous Utility No. 1979 of 2019 was filed within the mentioned case. The senior counsel produced a duplicate of the order dated February 10, 2026, stating that Bihar has solely 4 sanctioned posts for Chief Info Commissioner and Info Commissioners, of which one is vacant and the method to fill it’s underway.

The Supreme Courtroom, whereas listening to the case, had directed Bihar to think about rising the sanctioned power in gentle of the pendency of appeals and to file a response earlier than the following listening to scheduled for April 28, 2026.

Amarendra Kumar, an RTI activist who was knowledgeable by the federal government in regards to the pendency of appeals within the BIC, informed The Indian Specific: “Of the over 28,000 pending second appeals, greater than 100 have been filed by me alone. A few of these appeals pertain to a number of severe problems with corruption.”

The PIL seeks strict disposal of first appeals inside 45 days and second appeals inside 90 days, or inside such cheap time because the Excessive Courtroom deems match, as stipulated beneath the RTI Act. It additionally requires the Bihar authorities to border government pointers to make sure that “opposed entries” are recorded within the Annual Confidential Studies (ACR) of officers penalised three or extra instances beneath the RTI Act.

The PIL additional requests the court docket to direct the State Info Fee to strictly implement part 20(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, by imposing the obligatory penalty of Rs 25,000 on Public Info Officers (PIOs) in all instances the place info is delayed past 100 days with out cheap trigger. It additionally seeks a path to the state authorities to pay interim compensation to residents who’ve suffered “lack of alternative” on account of extreme delays in furnishing info, and to deal with such delays as a “constitutional tort” and a violation of Article 19(1)(a) (Freedom of Speech and Expression) and Article 21 (Safety of Life and Private Liberty) of the Structure.