Investigation report of an allegedly fraudulent account in SBI

Background

The appellant sought the information regarding an investigation report of an allegedly fraudulent account in State Bank of India (SBI). The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information 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; 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 Right to Information (RTI) Act.  During the hearing it was revealed that an individual had opened an account in SBI through fake documents and ID and deposited a banker's cheque issued by another bank branch which was converted from a stolen cheque. The fraud was confirmed after an investigation. The investigation report could not be provided because of security considerations. The respondent also stated that the holder of the fraudulent account was a close family member of the appellant. The respondent explained that the investigation report cannot be furnished as it was an internal and privileged document containing information about security lapses and the steps to be taken to plug any future possibilities of committing fraud.

View of CIC

The Central Information Commission (CIC) rejected the appeal while agreeing with the decision of PIO.

Citation:  Smt. Shakuntala v. State Bank of India in Decision No.CIC/DS/A/2011/002100/VS/000