3 min readPatnaApr 20, 2026 07:15 AM IST
Flagging that over 28,000 appeals are pending with the Bihar Information Commission (BIC), the Patna High Court has sought a status report from the state government on filling vacant positions in the commission. Under the RTI Act, 2005, first appeals should be disposed of within 45 days and second appeals within 90 days.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), Praween Kumar vs the State of Bihar, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo and Justice Harish Kumar said in an order on April 16 that 28,291 second appeals or complaints were pending before the BIC as of December 2024. The matter will be heard next on June 18, 2026. A similar matter is also being heard by the Supreme Court.
The Division Bench noted, “…the Hon’ble Supreme Court directed the State of Bihar to consider the desirability of a suitable increase in the sanctioned strength, keeping in view the pendency of almost 30,000 appeals, and to file a response in that regard before the next date of hearing, which was fixed for 28.04.2026.” The court asked for a status update on the Supreme Court case at the next hearing.
The government counsel submitted that a similar matter was before the Supreme Court, in Anjali Bhardwaj vs Union of India, which was disposed of by an order dated February 15, 2019. However, Miscellaneous Application No. 1979 of 2019 was filed in the said case. The senior counsel produced a copy of the order dated February 10, 2026, stating that Bihar has only four sanctioned posts for Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners, of which one is vacant and the process to fill it is underway.
The Supreme Court, while hearing the case, had directed Bihar to consider increasing the sanctioned strength in light of the pendency of appeals and to file a response before the next hearing scheduled for April 28, 2026.
Amarendra Kumar, an RTI activist who was informed by the government about the pendency of appeals in the BIC, told The Indian Express: “Of the over 28,000 pending second appeals, more than 100 have been filed by me alone. Some of these appeals pertain to several serious issues of corruption.”
The PIL seeks strict disposal of first appeals within 45 days and second appeals within 90 days, or within such reasonable time as the High Court deems fit, as stipulated under the RTI Act. It also calls for the Bihar government to frame executive guidelines to ensure that “adverse entries” are recorded in the Annual Confidential Reports (ACR) of officers penalised three or more times under the RTI Act.
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The PIL further requests the court to direct the State Information Commission to strictly enforce section 20(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, by imposing the mandatory penalty of Rs 25,000 on Public Information Officers (PIOs) in all cases where information is delayed beyond 100 days without reasonable cause. It also seeks a direction to the state government to pay interim compensation to citizens who have suffered “loss of opportunity” due to excessive delays in furnishing information, and to treat such delays as a “constitutional tort” and a violation of Article 19(1)(a) (Freedom of Speech and Expression) and Article 21 (Protection of Life and Personal Liberty) of the Constitution.
