Should account details of a firm be disclosed to one of the partners?
6 Mar, 2013
Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the State Bank of India (SBI) seeking information on account details of a firm. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information under section 3 of the RTI Act. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) advised the appellant to comply with the requirement of the PIO.
Proceedings
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the respondent explained that the appellant sought details about a partnership firm which would have been made available to her as she appears to be a partner in the firm. The respondent further submitted that the information pertaining to normal banking operations is made available through regular procedures to the account holders in accordance with the banking system on payment of a nominal fee and proper application. The respondent submitted that there was no need for the appellant to have taken the RTI route.
View of CIC
The Commission upheld the decision of the FAA.
Comments
The denial of information to an applicant ought to be only under section 8 or section 9 of the RTI Act.
Citation: Mrs. Madhavi Chahar v. State Bank of India in Decision No.CIC/DS/A/2012/000308/VS/02200
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1100
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission