PIO: Schemes are related to Credit Co-operative Societies which do not fall under the regulatory purview of SEBI - CIC: PIO was bound to seek assistance u/s 5(4) from the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and provide the information
20 Jan, 2023Information Sought
The appellant has sought the following information:
1. Provide the name of the Govt Department which has given registration to Golden-24 - Hamara India Credit Coop. Society Limited (Regn. no. MSCS/CR/594/2012). Also provide date of registration and jurisdiction of the said Society.
2. Provide the name of the Govt Department which has given registration to the Sahara G Anokha (Company reg. no. MSCS/CR/333/2010) – Sahara Credit Coop. Society Ltd. Lucknow. Also provide date of registration and jurisdiction of the said Society.
3. Provide the name of the Govt Department which has given registration to the Star-2 (Regn.no. MSCS/CR/935/2014) – Saharayan Universal Multipurpose Society Ltd. Bhopal. Also provide date of registration and jurisdiction of the said Society.
4. Provide details of the security deposit made by the above said Societies with the Govt. Department.
Grounds for filing Second Appeal
The CPIO did not provide the desired information
Submissions made by Appellant and Respondent during Hearing:
The appellant in his second appeal submitted that he is not satisfied with the reply of the CPIO as the relevant information was not given to him. However, he was not present at the VC venue despite due service of notice on 15.11.2022 vide speed post acknowledgment no. ED235382708IN. The CPIO submitted that appropriate replies were given to the appellant on 24.08.2020 & 17.11.2020. He also reiterated the contents of his written submissions dated 02.11.2022.
Observations:
From a perusal of the relevant case records, it is noted that initially the CPIO had provided a reply on point no. 2 only. However, the FAA while taking cognizance of the fact that complete information was not provided to the appellant, had directed the CPIO to provide a response on the points which were left unanswered. In compliance with the FAA’s order, the CPIO vide his reply dated 17.11.2020 had informed the appellant that the schemes mentioned in the queries are related to Credit Co-operative Societies which do not fall under the regulatory purview of SEBI. The appropriate regulator for the same is the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Hence, the information sought does not pertain to SEBI. This reply is not proper as if the information was related to Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the CPIO was bound to seek assistance u/s 5(4) from the concerned Ministry immediately after an order was passed by the FAA. Since the same was not done at the relevant time, the CPIO is directed to collect the relevant information from the concerned Ministry and provide the same to the appellant.
Decision:
In view of the above, the CPIO should collect the information from the concerned Ministry and provide the same to the appellant within a period of 15 days from the date of receipt of this order under intimation to the Commission.
The appeal is disposed of accordingly
Vanaja N. Sarna
Information Commissioner
Citation: Arun Kumar v. SEBI, File No. CIC/SEBIH/A/2021/135563, Date of Decision: 18/11/2022