IBBI rules on RTI Act, dismisses plea to provide unavailable information

IBBI rules on RTI Act, dismisses plea to provide unavailable information

Right to information under Section 2(j) means only the right to information which is held by any public authority

In the Appeal which was borne out of the application under Right to Information (RTI) wherein the information was sought by the appellant under section 6 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (Act), the First Appellate Authority (FAA) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) on 11 January directed that no further information could be provided to the appellant.

Herein, the information sought was regarding the names of successful resolution applicant (case wise) where the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLT) had approved the resolution plan. The CPIO had submitted that the details of CDs which had yielded in resolution as on 30 September 2020, were placed in the public domain and the same was available on the website of IBBI. The orders of the Adjudicating Authority approving resolution plans submitted by successful resolution applicants were available on the website of NCLT.

In this appeal, the appellant mainly submitted that the CPIO had refused the access to information and the 'names of resolution applicants' for each of the corporate debtor wherein the CIRP was successful, had not been provided by the CPIO.

In this connection, the FAA had noted that the applicant had sought the 'names of the successful corporate applicants (case wise) where NCLT has approved the resolution plan' from the CPIO. The respondent, however, provided him with the weblink to the data on 'Corporate Insolvency Resolution Processes Yielding resolution/Ending With Order of Liquidation: As on 30 September 2020' and stated that the orders of Adjudicating Authority approving resolution plans submitted by successful resolution applicants were already available in the public domain i.e. on the website of the NCLT, which is the Adjudicating Authority under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

The FAA also agreed with the CPIO that the information on successful resolution applicants is already available in the public domain i.e. Orders of NCLT. Further, the IBBI is not under obligation to maintain such data.

The FAA also observed that the CPIO could not be asked to consolidate/collate the data on such successful resolution applicants as the CPIO was not required to collate/consolidate the information in a manner requested by the appellant if the same was not available with the IBBI.

In this regard, the judgment of the Delhi High Court in the Registrar Supreme Court of India v Commodore Lokesh K. Batra & Ors. was referred to wherein, it was observed that: On a combined reading of Section 4(1)(a) and Section 2(i), it appears that the requirement is only to maintain the records in a manner which facilitates the right to information under the Act. 'Right to information' under Section 2(j) means only the right to information which is held by any public authority.

Another judgment referred to was of the Supreme Court in the matter of Central Board of Secondary Education and Anr. v Aditya Bandopadhyay and Ors. wherein it was observed that where the information sought is not a part of the record of a public authority, and where such information is not required to be maintained under any law or the rules or regulations of the public authority, the Act does not cast an obligation upon the public authority, to collect or collate such non-available information and then furnish it to an applicant.