The Jharkhand government pledged to the High Court to revive the State Information Commission, inactive for almost five years, within four weeks. Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan assured the court of concrete steps being taken to make the commission operational within the stipulated time. Chief Secretary Avinash Kumar and the Personnel Secretary were present in court as directed by the court earlier.
The High Court had warned of contempt proceedings if the Information Commission was not promptly activated. Despite a previous directive issued in December 2025, the state government had made no tangible progress in this regard. The court granted the government a four-week deadline to ensure the commission’s functionality after considering the submissions during the hearing.
The petitioner’s counsel highlighted the inactivity of the State Information Commission for nearly five years, emphasizing the vacancies in key positions. This situation has left citizens without a proper platform to file appeals under the Right to Information Act, 2005. As a result, individuals have been forced to directly approach the High Court, increasing the court’s workload.
Advocate Vikas Kumar represented the petitioner, Virendra Singh, who sought information under the Right to Information Act but faced delays and non-responses. With no functional State Information Commission for a second appeal, Singh resorted to approaching the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution.
