Receipt of cases far outnumber disposal at CIC in 2014

A scrutiny of the disposal of the cases by the different information commissioners’ shows that only in case of Mr. M A Khan Yusufi and Mr. Madabhushanam Sridhar Acharyulu, the opening balance on Jan 1, 2014 is more than the closing balance on Dec 31, 2014. It denotes that the receipt of cases is more than the disposal leading to an accumulation of cases. In the calendar year 2014, the pendency position of the cases by the information commissioners was as under:-

Mr. Vijay Sharma

Opening balance on Jan 1, 2014 - 4303

Closing balance on Dec 31, 2014 - 5931

Mr. Basant Seth

Opening balance on Jan 1, 2014 - 2736

Closing balance on Dec 31, 2014 - 3401

Mr. Yashovardhan Azad

Opening balance on Jan 1, 2014 - 2965

Closing balance on Dec 31, 2014 - 4879

Mr. Sharat Sabharwal

Opening balance on Jan 1, 2014 - 2405

Closing balance on Dec 31, 2014 - 3972

Mrs Manjula Prasher

Opening balance on Jan 1, 2014 - 2637

Closing balance on Dec 31, 2014 - 3393

Mr. M A Khan Yusufi 

Opening balance on Jan 1, 2014 - 1578

Closing balance on Dec 31, 2014 - 1478

 Mr. Madabhushanam Sridhar Acharyulu

Opening balance on Jan 1, 2014 - 2394

Closing balance on Dec 31, 2014 - 1759

Reply by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that there are over 36000 cases pending before the Central Information Commission (CIC) as on January 4, 2015. Out of the 36,319 pending cases before the CIC, 28,888 are appeals while the rest 7,431 were complaints. It has also come to knowledge that the number of cases pending before the bench headed by the erstwhile Chief Information Commissioner in the CIC has increased from 7655 to 11212 (nearly 47 %) since the retirement of the Rajiv Mathur in August. The CIC has been functioning without a Chief Information Commissioner for more than four months and the process of appointment has been initiated.

As on Jan 4, 2015, the pendency position is as under:

Readers may refer to the RTI study carried out titled "Analysis of the orders of the CIC" link - http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/analysis-orders-cic-rti-study-4-2271#.VKoPndKUclA