Information regarding NRI account was denied u/s 8(1)(d) & (e) - Appellant: a/c holder was his friend who was harassed by bank; application motivated by public interest as he did not want anyone to undergo the same harassment - CIC: provide information

Information regarding an NRI account was denied u/s 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; 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; 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; 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; and 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; - Appellant: account holder was his friend who had been harassed by the bank and had asked him to look into this matter; the application was motivated by public interest as he did not want anybody else to undergo the same harassment - CIC: provide the information on account of public interest

O R D E R

Facts:

1. The appellant filed an RTI application on 472012 seeking information on an NRI account.

2. The CPIO responded on 1872012, denying information to the appellant 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; 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; 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; 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; and 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 on ground of third party information. The appellant filed an appeal with the first appellate authority (FAA) on 882012. The FAA responded on 192012 and upheld the order of the CPIO. The appellant approached the Commission on 5122012 in a second appeal.

Hearing:

3. I heard both the parties through videoconferencing.

4. The appellant referred to his RTI application of 472012 and stated that the information that he was seeking was about the mismanagement in the bank in the context of the handling of an account of an NRI in which connection he has sought information from the bank about the action that the bank has taken in this matter to ensure that this does not happen again. The appellant stated that instead of providing him the information, the bank has without any application of mind in a very technical manner simply cited some sections of the RTI Act, namely, 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; 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; 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; 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; and (e), and stated that this was covered under the exemption from disclosure clauses and that the information will not be provided.

5. The appellant said that his RTI application clearly reflects the bank’s mismanagement and maladministration, which resulted in the harassment of an NRI for no reason. Hence, how could 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; 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; 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; 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; and 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; , pertaining to commercial confidence and fiduciary relationship, come in the picture.

6. The appellant said that he had sought this information in his RTI application because one of his friends who was an NRI had been harassed by the bank, and that the friend had asked him to look into this matter.

7. The appellant stated that for no reason the bank had debited an amount of 400 pounds from his friend’s account and he was made to run from pillar to post. Much later, the bank credited the account back. The appellant said that his RTI application was motivated by public interest, as he did not want anybody else to undergo the same harassment.

8. The appellant stated that he wants to know the following: (a) whether the bank had taken any action in this matter referred to in the RTI application with a view to ensuring that such incidents do not happen again; and (b) whether the bank has informed the concerned person about the action taken.

9. The respondent must provide the information sought as per para 8 above. The exemption from disclosure arguments of the respondent will not apply here. There is a strong element of public interest, on account of which the information must be disclosed to the appellant.

Decision:

10. The respondent is directed to provide to the appellant, within 30 days of this order, the information sought in para 8 above in context of the RTI application. Appeal is disposed of. Copy of this order be given free of cost to the parties.

(Vijai Sharma)

Information Commissioner

Citation: Shri Mantu Sharma v. Bank of India in Decision No.CIC/VS/A/2013/000191/5502