The Kalaburagi Information Commission disposes of 3,694 cases annually

State Information Commissioner (Kalaburagi Bench) B. Venkata Singh addressing a media conference in Kalaburagi on Friday. | Photo credit: ARUN KULKARNI

The Kalaburagi Bench of the Karnataka Information Commission disposed of 3,694 cases after conducting hearings on 188 days over the last one year. It has imposed fines totaling ₹7.78 lakh on 80 public information officers for not providing information on time and ordered compensation of ₹96,000 to 35 applicants, State Information Commissioner B. Venkata Singh said on Friday.

Addressing a press conference at the Bench office at Mahal-e-Shahi Guest House in Kalaburagi, Mr. Singh outlined her performance after completing one year in office.

“Hearings began on 25 November 2025 and the Bench has so far heard 7,262 cases out of which 3,694 have been disposed of. ₹ 7.37 lakh has been recovered from fines imposed. A total of 20,398 second information appeals have been filed before Kalaburagi, 3 of these 6 have been disposed of on 18. 6,930 remain pending The The bench has been receiving second appeals in Kalaburagi since February this year and has received 2,432 applications through the process,” he said.

According to information shared by Mr. Singh, the district addiction is 2,059 cases in Raichur, 1,483 in Kalaburagi, 885 in Ballari, 665 in Yadgir, 649 in Koppal, 629 in Vijayanagara and 560 in Bidar.

“An important development is the Commission’s decision to declare Kalaburagi and Yadgir District Co-operative Central Banks as public authorities under Right to Information. In another case, three sub-inspectors at Sirwar police station were fined ₹25,000 each for delay in providing CCTV footage. The Commission also recommended action against them, following which the police department issued a notice,” he said.

Design of a permanent structure

Mr. Singh said that the Kalaburagi Bench, which has been functioning since 2024, covered seven districts of Kalyana Karnataka region and is currently functioning from the Public Works Department building.

“Letters have been written to the chief minister, district in-charge minister and deputy commissioner seeking land for permanent construction. A proposal has also been submitted to the government to address staff shortages. Workshops have been organized in all seven districts to clear doubts among public information officers on the implementation of the Right to Information process,” Singh said.

Published – 16 Oct 2026 20:07 IST