The CIC has asked the President's office to place on its website periodic developments taking place on the mercy petitions pending with it.

Considering the "anxiety" of the petitioners, whose clemency pleas are pending before the Secretariat, the transparency panel directed the Central Public Information Officer to place the order before the competent authority to make appropriate provisions for disclosing, possibly in the website, the progress made in the case of each mercy petition.

Hearing the plea of Odisha-based Siva Sankar Chaini, Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra said, "It is likely that there is no single record containing the reason for any mercy petition pending for a period longer that what is reasonable.

"However, the anxiety of the citizens can also be understood when any particular mercy petition keeps pending for an unreasonably long period."

Mishra said it would be necessary to publish, from time to time, the progress in the case of mercy petitions.

"For the sake of transparency, it would be necessary to publish, from time to time, the progress in the case of mercy petitions explaining, as far as possible, the reasons for the time taken," he said.