New Delhi, June 5: Right to information activists, including some involved in the movement for transparency, have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to fill two vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC), one of them over five months old.

Writing under the banner of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI), the RTI crusaders flagged the fact that information commissioners M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired on December 31, 2016, and February 17, 2017, respectively.

Although the department of personnel and training had invited applications for the posts in September 2016, well in advance in anticipation of the vacancies, no appointments have been made till date.

Under the Right to Information Act, Information Commissions are the final appellate authority and are entrusted with the task of deciding appeals and complaints of persons who have been unable to secure information in accordance with the RTI Act or are aggrieved by violations of the law.

The CIC, the NCPRI letter pointed out, has been functioning at a reduced strength for over five months, contributing to increased pendency of appeals.

According to the CIC website, close to 27,000 appeals and complaints were pending before the commission at the beginning of this month.

The signatories to the letter have also sought to bring to the Prime Minister's attention the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners, citing denial of information by the department about the shortlisting process and names of applicants.

This despite a Supreme Court ruling that underscored the need for transparency in the appointment process.

The signatories to the letter include Nikhil Dey, Sailesh Gandhi, Shekhar Singh and Anjali Bharadwaj.