Pendency of Appeals Before State Information Commission Drops to 38,000

Pendency of Appeals Before State Information Commission Drops to 38,000

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Oct 19, 2025: The number of pending appeals before the Karnataka State Information Commission has come down from 55,400 in February to 38,000 over the past seven months, said State Information Commissioner K. Badruddin on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters after an interaction with district officials and RTI petitioners, Mr. Badruddin said the Chief Information Commissioner and 10 other State Information Commissioners have been conducting hearings throughout the week, except on weekends, to clear both old and new appeals. He noted that the backlog had increased during the pandemic when the commission was functioning with only two commissioners. “We are working tirelessly to ensure the appeals are disposed of judiciously,” he said.

Mr. Badruddin pointed out that several government departments have yet to make the mandatory voluntary disclosure of information on their websites, which could significantly reduce the number of RTI applications. “We have repeatedly written to the departments concerned, urging them to post the required information at the earliest,” he added.

He said the commission had written to departmental heads two months ago, directing them to conduct quarterly district-level reviews on the disposal of RTI applications. The commission has also recommended that the disposal of RTI applications be included as an agenda item in the quarterly district-level Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) review meetings, he said.