Details of account holder in a case of fraud
13 Jan, 2012Background of the case
The name and address of person holding account number 2010195226 along with statement of accounts and other related information was refused under Section 8 (1)(d),(e) and (j) of the RTI Act. Appellant stated that after seeing an advertisement which appeared in the Hindi daily, Dainik Jagran dated 5-10-2009, he spoke to the person answering on the advertised mobile numbers in respect of fixing of Aircel tower on his property. Thereafter, he was asked to deposit and amount of Rs. 4,850/- in the above mentioned SBI account which he did vide cheque no.313174. The appellant submitted that soon thereafter, both the mobile telephone numbers which were given in the advertisement were switched off and he found that he had been defrauded by the holder of the bank account. It was in this background that he sought to have the details of the account holder from the bank. The bank manager confirmed that the name of the account holder and her address was genuine and had been verified by him. The bank account was live and being operated. The bank manager stated that on receiving the RTI application, he visited the resident of the account holder who could not explain on what account the abovementioned cheque was received from the appellant.
View of CIC
The Commission examined the statement of account of the bank account and found that the averments had indeed deposited Rs.4,850/- in the abovementioned bank account. It is observed by the Commission that there are several entries of similar amounts during this period in this account, which is a departure from the normal pattern of deposits/ withdrawals from this account. Thus, the Commission held that that the appellant has been a victim of fraud with the amount been deposited in the above mentioned account. Therefore, in larger public interest, the Commission directed the PIO to provide the name and address of account holder of the above mentioned account to the appellant along with that portion of the statement of account which reflects the crediting of the cheque issued by the appellant into the above mentioned account.
Comments
Such cases of fraud through advertisement and internet are becoming very common and the citizen can make use of such judgments to get the information.
Citation: Shri K.C. Sharma v. SBI, New Delhi in Appeal: No. CIC/DS/A/2011/000826