Supreme Court Stays Delhi HC Verdict Restraining CIC From Forming Benches

The Supreme Court on Monday rescued Central Information Commission (CIC), the nodal body for smooth implementation of Right to Information Act, from slipping into administrative chaos.

On May 21, the Delhi High Court had quashed the CIC (Management) Regulations, 2007, framed by the chief information commissioner for smooth functioning of CIC. The HC had also held that the chief information commissioner had no power to constitute Benches of the commission.

Appearing before a Bench comprising Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan, attorney general G E Vahanvati argued that the HC order had virtually paralysed functioning of the CIC as the chief information commissioner was unable to distribute work among information commissioners at a time when there was a flood of appeals.
The Bench, after brief arguments, stayed only that part of the HC order which restrained CIC from constituting Benches for distribution work. This means, the chief information commissioner can now allot work to other information commissioners for the speedy disposal of RTI appeals.
The CIC, in its special leave petition (SLP) drafted by advocate Devadatta Kamat, 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 CIC said the Supreme Court should decide the matter once and for all as there had been conflicting decisions on this issue — whether the chief information commissioner could frame rules for smooth management of the commission under the Act — from various HCs.
The appeal stated that while the HCs of Patna, Bombay and Karnataka approved regulations framed by the state chief information commissioner for administration as well as hearing of cases, the Delhi HC had given a conflicting ruling.
It said the power to manage the affairs of the commission, vested in the chief information commisssioner, had to include power to allocate work so as to effectively utilise the services of information commissioners. “Any curtailment of this power, in particular to divide work among the information commissioners, will cause serious impediment in the functioning of the commission,” it said.