Disclosure of NPA bank accounts under RTI
3 May, 2012Background
The appellant sought the information regarding NPA accounts of the bank such as the account figures and the related units along with names and addresses of NPA borrowers. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided part of the information and denied the name and addresses of NPA borrowers under sections 8(1)(e) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; and 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) rejected the appeal observing that all the customers of the bank come to it because of the implicit trust they have and they provide information to the bank for their own benefit. Customers also have a choice of which bank they wish to approach. Thus, the information sought was clearly held by the bank in fiduciary relationship and fulfills all the requirements of exemption under section 8(1)(e) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; of the RTI Act. Further no larger public interest was established, the disclosure was held as exempt.
Citation Mr. Sandeep Godika v UCO Bank in Decision No. CIC/SG/A/2012/000471/18467
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/251
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission