After High Court's Contempt Warning, Jharkhand Govt Undertakes To Make State Information Commission Functional Within Four Weeks
Rushil Batra
3 Feb 2026 5:06 PM IST
On 29 January 2026, the State of Jharkhand informed the Jharkhand High Court that the State Information Commission, which has remained non-functional due to the non-appointment of its Chairperson and Members, would be made functional within four weeks.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Rai was hearing the matter.
During the hearing, Avinash Kumar, Chief Secretary, Government of Jharkhand, and Prawin Kumar Toppo, Secretary, Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Rajbhasha Department, appeared before the Court and assured that the State would take all sincere endeavours to make the Commission functional within the stipulated period of four weeks.
Background:
The clarification was given in an appeal arising out of a writ petition. The petitioner had sought to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution on the ground that the statutory remedy under Section 19(3) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 could not be availed, as the State Information Commission was not functional owing to the absence of a Chairperson and Members. A Single Judge had dismissed the writ petition, leading to the present appeal.
Earlier, by an order dated 12 December 2025, the High Court had relied upon the Supreme Court's decision in Anjali Bhardwaj v. Union of India (2019) 18 SCC 246, wherein the Apex Court had directed the state Governments to fill up the vacancies in the Information Commission and advised the government to make timely appointments. The High Court had noted:
“But very surprisingly, the State Government is not bothering for proper functioning of the State Information Commission by not appointing the Chairman and other Members and the State Information Commission is not functional…The action of the State in not allowing the State Information Commission to be functional, therefore, is not only contrary to the statutory command but also in violation to the spirit of the Constitution of India.”
Vide order dated 12 December, the Court had also cautioned that if, by the next date of hearing, the State Information Commission was not made functional, the Court would take suo motu cognisance and initiate contempt proceedings against the State for sitting over its statutory obligations.
Subsequently, since the Commission was still not functional on the next date of hearing, the High Court summoned the Chief Secretary of the State to file an affidavit and to appear before the Court.
In light of the statement made before the Court that the Commission would be made functional within four weeks, the High Court has now directed the matter to be listed on 27 February for further hearing.
Title: Birendar Singh v. State of Jharkhand and Ors.
Case Number: L.P.A. No. 383 of 2025
Appearance: Mr. Vikash Kumar appeared for the Appellant. Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan, assisted by Mr. Manish Kumar and Shray Mishra, appeared for the Respondents.