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Reserve Bank of India v. Jayantilal N. Mistry & Ors.

Transferred Case (Civil) · Neutral citation not assigned (Transferred Case (Civil) No. 91 of 2015)Decided 16 Dec 2015
Transferred Case (Civil) No. 91 of 2015
Justice M.Y. Eqbal · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

A citizen asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the RTI Act for inspection reports and related information about cooperative and other banks. The RBI refused, saying the information was held in a "fiduciary" capacity and was exempt under Section 8(1) of the Act, and that disclosure could harm the banks and the economy. The Central Information Commission (CIC) ordered disclosure in several cases, and the RBI and the banks challenged those orders in the High Courts. The matters were transferred to the Supreme Court and heard together.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed all the petitions and upheld the CIC orders. It held that the RBI is a statutory regulator working for the public, not in a fiduciary relationship with the banks it supervises, so the fiduciary exemption under Section 8(1)(e) does not apply in ordinary cases. It also held that the Section 8(1)(e) exemption applies only to exceptional cases, and that the RBI's "economic interest" argument was unpersuasive. The Court relied on the Section 10 severability provision, which requires disclosure of the parts of a record that are not exempt. It stressed that transparency about banks' conduct serves the public interest.

Lesson Learnt

A label such as "fiduciary" or "economic interest" does not automatically stop an RTI request from being granted, especially for information about banks and their regulation. Public authorities must release whatever part of a record can be separated from the exempt material.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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