Only 2.1% of RTI applications on State online portal dealt with: Law student moves Telangana High Court

A law student has moved the Telangana High Court flagging a disposal rate of only 2.1% for Right to Information (RTI) applications and zero for first appeals filed through the Telangana RTI Online Portal. [Banappagari Vinay Reddy v. State of Telangana and Ors]

A Bench of Justices P Sam Koshy and Narsing Rao Nandikonda on Monday granted the Telangana State government one week to file a counter affidavit.

The public interest litigation (PIL) was filed by Banappagari Vinay Reddy, a Medak-based law student, appearing as a party-in-person.

The Court also clarified that the prayer seeking transfer of the design, development and hosting of the RTI Portal to the National Informatics Centre (NIC) would not fall within the purview of the PIL.

According to official data Reddy obtained through RTI applications filed with the Information Technology, Electronics and Communications (ITE&C) Department, only 377 of the 17,865 RTI applications filed through the Telangana RTI Online Portal since its launch have been disposed of.

Of 2,502 first appeals filed through the portal, not a single one has been disposed of. The data further discloses that while 3,323 public authorities have been onboarded onto the portal, only 17 are actually using it for RTI disposal. That leaves 3,306 authorities, or 99.48 percent of those onboarded, non-compliant.

The petition seeks a direction to the State to ensure effective onboarding of all public authorities, public information officers and first appellate authorities on the portal.

It also seeks enforcement of the Supreme Court's binding directions in Kishan Chand Jain v. Union of India, which mandated hybrid hearings at all State Information Commissions by December 31, 2023.

The Telangana Information Commission has not met this deadline. As per the plea, this has forced RTI appellants from across the State, including from remote districts such as Adilabad and Khammam, to travel to Hyderabad for hearings. The petitioner has also relied upon the Supreme Court's directions in Pravasi Legal Cell v. Union of India, which mandate the operationalisation of RTI portals across all States.

The matter is next listed for hearing on August 3.

The Telangana Information Commission and ITE&C Department was represented by Government Pleader Pradeep Kumar.

[Read Order]