CIC to hear RTI cases from J&K and Ladakh from Friday

NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission CIC will start hearing Right to Information (RTI) applications from the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh from Friday. The state of J&K was bifurcated and re-constituted as two separate UTs in October last year.
Till May 10, as many as 111 second appeals/complaints (fresh cases) from the UT of J&K have been registered in the CIC consequent to the Reorganisation Act, 2019.
Minister of state for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh met CIC chief commissioner Bimal Julka on Thursday. In a statement issued by the ministry it was shared that applicants from J&K and Ladakh can file RTI applications from home and no one has to travel outside even for appeals to the CIC. "This will usher in a new culture of “Justice from Home”, the minister stated.
The minister also informed that any citizen of India can now file RTI pertaining to matters related to J&K and Ladakh, which was reserved to only citizens of erstwhile state of J&K, before the Reorganisation Act of 2019.
Applicants from both the UTs can file first appeal before the officers designated by them and can avail the facility of hearing from home for second appeal before the CIC. Moreover, the applicants can file RTI anytime through the online mechanism.
After the J&K re-organisation Act 2019, the J&K Right to Information Act 2009 and the Rules to implement the same were repealed and Right to Information Act 2005 and the Rules there under were enforced from 31.10.2019.
Meanwhile, in the midst of the ongoing lock down all information commissioners are hearing cases and CIC headquarters in Delhi are functioning with 33% official staff. Senior Information Commissioners are hearing cases from the office over video conferencing.