Supreme Court refuses to entertain banks’ plea for RTI exemption

He besides said that the judgement was delivered lone aft each the banks done Indian Banking Association were heard.

In a setback to assorted nationalist assemblage and backstage banks, including SBI and HDFC Bank, a Supreme Court seat led by Justice SA Nazeer connected Tuesday refused to entertain their petitions seeking exemption from disclosing immoderate accusation related to their customers, commercialized secrets, hazard ratings oregon immoderate unpublished terms delicate accusation from the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

It said that these caller petitions volition beryllium heard by the archetypal Bench led by L Nageswara Rao, which had earlier dismissed a associated plea by the cardinal authorities and 10 banks seeking a callback of the judgement successful Jayantilal N Mistry (2015) that mandated RBI to disclose inspection reports of banks arsenic good arsenic details of wilful defaulters connected the grounds that the cardinal slope had nary fiduciary narration with the banks.

A Bench led by Justice Nazeer said that “we don’t deliberation it due to perceive the case. We are of the presumption that it is due to database the substance earlier the archetypal seat of J Rao”. Justice Rao’s seat had successful April revived its 2015 judgement making it indispensable for the RBI to disclose fiscal accusation related to backstage and nationalist banks nether the RTI Act.

In different effort to wriggle retired of the transparency law, astir a twelve banks person filed abstracted petitions, saying that they being privy to delicate accusation similar idiosyncratic details of its relationship holders, prospective loans and different fiscal transactions are required to support specified info confidential and support privateness arsenic directed by the SC successful the Justice KS Puttasamy vs UoI (Aadhaar judgment), which recognises the information that close to privateness is simply a sacrosanct facet of cardinal rights.

Besides SBI and PNB, 4 backstage banks – HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Yes Bank – successful their associated petition said that RBI successful its relation arsenic banker to the authorities and banking regulator receives and holds a batch of delicate information, the disclosure of which whitethorn not beryllium successful the involvement of the federation oregon service nationalist interest.

Senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi, appearing for the HDFC Bank, argued that the slope was not a enactment erstwhile the earlier bid mandating disclosure was passed. “Today’s petitions are antithetic and determination is nary request for Justice Rao’s seat to perceive them, helium said portion opposing the basal of counsel Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the RTI activist, that the archetypal Bench should lone perceive these petitions.

Rohtagi on with elder counsel KV Vishwanathan and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta (appearing for SBI), contended that the substance should beryllium heard by a larger seat arsenic privateness of customers is of utmost value to a bank, who person “guarded commercialized secrets”.

Terming disclosure of inspection reports arsenic penetration of privateness of banks, their customers and employees, Rohtagi said that the RTI Act does not use to backstage entities similar them arsenic they are not nationalist authorities nether the Act and therefore, accusation pertaining to specified banks and their customers cannot beryllium sought nether the RTI Act, fto unsocial confidential/sensitive accusation of specified banks/FIs. “No slope lawsuit wants his safeguards/parameters should beryllium disclosed to anyone. These inspections prepared by RBI are treated arsenic highly confidential. Banking concern is simply a concern of religion and trust.. it has millions of accounts, full banking cloth volition beryllium finished if each the inspection reports are made public. Besides, backstage banks’ shares are traded and they are not created by immoderate statute, frankincense not covered nether the RTI Act,” helium argued.

Reading retired a Risk appraisal study of Union Bank of India, Bhushan told the Bench that “these inspection reports conscionable springiness details of moving of the slope including supervision of its lending policies truthful arsenic to cheque defaulters similar Vijaya Mallya advertisement Mehul Chokshi. The full papers doesn’t springiness names of immoderate customer. There is thing confidential successful this report.”

He besides said that the judgement was delivered lone aft each the banks done Indian Banking Association were heard.