Ranchi, Jan 29 (IANS) The Jharkhand government on Thursday assured the High Court that the State Information Commission, which has remained defunct for nearly five years, will be made fully functional within four weeks.

During the hearing before a division bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice A.K. Rai on a petition filed by Virendra Singh, Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan, appearing for the state, submitted that concrete steps are being taken to activate the commission and that it would start functioning within the stipulated time.

Chief Secretary Avinash Kumar and the Secretary, Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Official Language Department, were present in court during the hearing, in compliance with the court’s earlier directions.

In the previous hearing, the High Court had warned that contempt proceedings could be initiated against responsible officials if the Information Commission was not activated promptly. The Chief Secretary and the Personnel Secretary were directed to appear in person.

The court observed that despite its direction issued on December 12, 2025, the state government had failed to make any tangible progress in activating the commission.

After hearing the submissions on Thursday, the bench granted the government four weeks’ time to ensure that the commission becomes functional.

During the proceedings, counsel for the petitioner submitted that the State Information Commission has remained inactive for almost five years, with the posts of Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners lying vacant. As a result, citizens are left without a statutory forum to file appeals under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

It was further argued that this has caused serious hardship to information seekers, compelling them to approach the High Court directly, thereby adding to the court’s workload.

Advocate Vikas Kumar appeared for the petitioner. The appellant, Virendra Singh, had sought information under the Right to Information Act, 2005, but did not receive a response within the prescribed 30-day period. Even after filing a first appeal, the department concerned failed to furnish the information.

In the absence of a functional State Information Commission to hear a second appeal, Singh approached the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution.

–IANS

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