Disclosure of one’s own credit proposals by a bank under RTI
3 May, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the State Bank of India (SBI) seeking information regarding the date of credit proposal, recommendation, sanction of credit facility, copy of credit proposals etc. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided part information and denied the rest.
Proceedings
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that the substance notings should be given to him. The appellant also stated that there was a delay of more than hundred days in getting a response on the RTI application. The appellant argued that he was not asking for third party information but it was about his own credit proposals and thus denial under section 8(1)(d) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; of the RTI Act is without justification. The respondent stated that they had provided whatever information was available with them. Regarding the rest of the information, it was submitted that the same pertains to the authorities who had evaluated the credit proposals of the appellant. Furnishing the same would have an impact on the internal processes of the Bank and would reveal the particulars of the officers who had done the evaluation hence information was denied under 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.
View of CIC
The Commission held that since the appellant is asking about his own credit proposals the ground as stated by the respondent is not tenable. The Commission directed the PIO to provide the information to the appellant. The CIC also issued the show cause notice to the respondent for contravening the timelines in the RTI Act.
Citation: Mr. K. Selvan v. State Bank of Indiain Decision No.CIC/VS/A/2012/000002/02692
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1247
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