RBI Reluctant to reveal the names of top 100 bank loan defaulter

Source :Anita Singh, TNN Dec 11, 2011, 05.14AM IST

PANIPAT: Reluctant to reveal the names of top 100 bank loan defaulter businessmen of the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, seeking a stay on the orders passed by the Central Information Commission (CIC).

On November 15, CIC, while deciding a petition filed by local RTI activist P P Kapoor, had directed the RBI to provide him the names of defaulters by December 10 and upload these on the bank's website by December 31. In the petition, Kapoor had challenged the denial of information by the bank.

Kapoor had sought the details from the bank in August last year, but was denied on the grounds that RBI held these in 'judiciary capacity'.

However, the CIC directed the bank to post on its website complete information on all such industrialists as part of suo-motu disclosure mandated under Section 4 of the RTI Act before December 31 and asked it to update it every year.

The RBI had objected to making the information public, saying "it is held by it in fiduciary capacity and disclosing it will adversely affect economic interest of the state".

Information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi agreed that information was 'fiduciary in nature', but said that such exemption did not stand when there was larger public interest in the disclosure.

After his RTI query was dismissed by the RBI, Kapoor filed the petition with the Central Information Commission, which on October 12 summoned the public information officer of the RBI to appear before it on November 8 with all relevant documents. The commission held a hearing on the said date, but the verdict was withheld.

Kapoor said the information was sough by him in the larger public interest as revealing the names of the defaulters could force them to return the money of the public sector banks.