Are the details of savings and FD accounts of third party liable to be disclosed?
7 Jul, 2013
Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) seeking information about the various savings and FD accounts in the name of a certain individual including his wife, sons and daughters. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information under section 8(1)(d), 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;
and section 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.
Proceedings
During the hearing the before Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that he sought information about the various saving and FD accounts of a family, who is illegally enjoying Below Poverty Line (BPL) facilities from the State Government. The appellant stated that he wanted this information to expose the corruption in the selection of BPL families by the concerned department. The respondent stated that as per the exemption clauses of the RTI Act, the bank is unable to divulge the information to the appellant.
View of CIC
The Commission held that the approach of the respondent is in conformity with the provisions of the RTI Act. The CIC rejected the appeal stating that no action is called for at the Commission’s level.
Citation: Mr. Deen Dayal Singh Yadav v. State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur in Decision No. CIC/VS/A/2012/000685/03584
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1427
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission