State Information Commission

The State Information Commission is the statutory watchdog set up in every Indian state to enforce the citizen's right to information against public authorities functioning under the state government. It hears complaints and second appeals from applicants who are denied information, and its orders are binding on the public bodies it oversees. Unlike the State Election Commission or the State Public Service Commission, it owes its existence entirely to an ordinary law, not to the Constitution.

Origin and Legal Status

The State Information Commission was not created by any constitutional amendment. It exists because the Right to Information Act, 2005 required every state to set up one, on the same pattern as the Central Information Commission that the same Act created for the Union government. Every state has since constituted its own Commission. Because its source is a parliamentary statute rather than a constitutional provision, the body can be reshaped or even restructured by ordinary legislation, unlike bodies such as the Election Commission of India that enjoy constitutional protection.

The Commission's mandate is confined to the state's own administrative universe — government departments, financial institutions, public sector undertakings and other public authorities that fall under the state government. Complaints concerning central government offices go instead to the Central Information Commission.

Composition and Appointment

Each State Information Commission is headed by a State Chief Information Commissioner, assisted by up to ten State Information Commissioners (the exact sanctioned strength differs from state to state). Appointments are made by the Governor, but only on the recommendation of a three-member selection committee: the Chief Minister as chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Assembly, and a state cabinet minister nominated by the Chief Minister. Where no recognised Leader of Opposition exists, the leader of the single largest opposition group in the Assembly stands in for that role.

Persons appointed must be individuals of standing in public life with wide knowledge or experience in fields such as law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media, or administration and governance. Sitting Members of Parliament or of any state legislature are disqualified, as is anyone holding another office of profit, running a business or profession, or affiliated with a political party.

Tenure, Salary and Removal

Following the RTI (Amendment) Act, 2019, the term of office of the State Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioners is no longer fixed by the parent Act itself; it is now prescribed by the Central Government, subject to a ceiling of 65 years of age, whichever comes first. Reappointment is barred. A serving State Information Commissioner may later be elevated to State Chief Information Commissioner, but the combined tenure across both posts cannot exceed five years. Salary and other service conditions are likewise now fixed by the Central Government, and once fixed cannot be altered to a member's disadvantage during their term.

The Governor may remove a member directly on limited grounds: insolvency, conviction for an offence involving moral turpitude, taking up paid employment outside official duties, infirmity of mind or body, or acquiring a financial interest likely to prejudice official functioning. Removal on the separate ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity follows a stricter route — the Governor must refer the matter to the Supreme Court, and can act only if the Court's enquiry upholds the case for removal.

Powers and Functions

The Commission's core job is adjudicatory: it receives and inquires into complaints from applicants who could not file an information request because no Public Information Officer was appointed, who were refused information, who got no reply within the statutory time limit, who found the fees charged unreasonable, who received incomplete or misleading information, or who have any other grievance connected to obtaining information. It can also launch an inquiry on its own motion (suo motu) where there are reasonable grounds.

While inquiring into a complaint, the Commission wields the powers of a civil court — it can summon and examine witnesses on oath, order discovery and inspection of documents, receive evidence on affidavit, and requisition public records from any court or office; no record can be withheld from it during such an inquiry. To enforce compliance, it can direct a public authority to grant access to information in a specified form, appoint a Public Information Officer where none exists, publish particular categories of information, reform its record-management practices, train its staff on the right to information, file annual compliance reports, compensate an aggrieved applicant for loss suffered, or reject an application altogether. It may also impose a penalty on a defaulting Public Information Officer of ₹250 for every day of delay, subject to a ceiling of ₹25,000, besides recommending disciplinary action.

Every year the Commission places a report on the working of the Act before the State Government, which in turn tables it before the State Legislature. Where a public authority is generally out of step with the Act's requirements, the Commission may recommend corrective steps to bring it into conformity.

RTI (Amendment) Act, 2019: What Changed

Before 2019, the RTI Act fixed the term of State Information Commission members at five years by statute, and tied their salary and status to those of an Election Commissioner (for the State Chief Information Commissioner) and the Chief Secretary of the state (for other members). The 2019 amendment removed both anchors, empowering the Central Government to notify the term and service conditions instead, and dropped the earlier provisions on pension-related salary deductions. The change applied identically to the Central Information Commission.

State vs Central Information Commission

UPSC Relevance

Prelims: Focus on the appointing authority (Governor, not President), the composition of the selection committee, the age/tenure ceiling of 65 years, and the distinction that the Commission is a statutory, not a constitutional, body.

Mains: The State Information Commission is a recurring reference point in GS-II answers on transparency, accountability and the autonomy of regulatory/quasi-judicial bodies. Be ready to discuss how the RTI (Amendment) Act, 2019 — by shifting tenure and salary determination to the Central Government — affects the independence of Commissioners who are meant to check state authorities, and to contrast statutory bodies like this one with constitutional bodies such as the State Election Commission.

FAQ

Q1. Who appoints the members of the State Information Commission? The Governor appoints the State Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioners, acting on the recommendation of a committee headed by the Chief Minister.

Q2. Is the State Information Commission a constitutional body? No. It is a statutory body created under the Right to Information Act, 2005, not by any provision of the Constitution.

Q3. What is the maximum age up to which a member can serve? 65 years, or the term prescribed by the Central Government, whichever is reached earlier.

Q4. Can a State Information Commissioner be reappointed? No, direct reappointment is barred, though a Commissioner can be appointed as State Chief Information Commissioner subject to an overall five-year cap across both posts.

Q5. What penalty can the Commission impose for non-compliance? It can penalise a defaulting Public Information Officer at ₹250 per day of delay, up to a maximum of ₹25,000, besides recommending disciplinary action.

Quick Revision

• Created under the Right to Information Act, 2005 — a statutory, not constitutional, body.
• Composition: State Chief Information Commissioner + up to 10 State Information Commissioners.
• Appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of a CM-led committee.
• Tenure/salary now fixed by the Central Government (post RTI Amendment Act, 2019); age ceiling 65 years.
• Removal by Governor; misbehaviour/incapacity cases require a Supreme Court enquiry.
• Has civil-court powers during inquiries; can penalise Public Information Officers up to ₹25,000.
• Submits an annual report to the State Government, tabled before the State Legislature.

Sources

• The Right to Information Act, 2005 — India Code
• The Right to Information (Amendment) Act, 2019 — Central Information Commission

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

• Indian Polity — M. Laxmikanth (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
• Introduction to the Constitution of India — D.D. Basu (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
• The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.