Central Information Commission
Appeal No.CIC/WB/A/2008/001243-SM dated 12.03.2008
Right to Information Act-2005-Under Section (19)
Dated 26.03.2009
Appellant : Shri K.V. Rami Reddy
Respondent : Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, Ltd.
Ministry of New and Renewable Energies
On behalf of the Appellant, Shri Kishori Lal, is present.
On behalf of the Respondent, the following are present:-
(i) Shri S.P. Reddi, DF
(ii) Shri M.L. Rajora, DGM (Law)
The brief facts of the case are as under.
2. The Appellant has requested the CPIO in his application dated 12 March 2008 for a
number of information in respect of the financing of 25 small hydro-power projects in Andhra
Pradesh. The CPIO, in his reply dated 15 April 2008, denied the information on the ground that
the information sought was in respect of third parties and the disclosure of such information being
in the nature of commercial confidence could harm the competitive position of the third parties
and was exempt from disclosure under Section 8(1)(d) and (e) of the Right to Information (RTI)
Act. Not satisfied with this reply, the Appellant went before the first Appellate Authority on 17 April
2008. That Authority decided the appeal in his order dated 19 May 2008 and directed the CPIO to
provide some of the generic information such as the name of the projects, location, capacity etc.,
but he endorsed the decision of the CPIO with regard to the disclosure of loan details of the third
parties. It is against this order of the first Appellate Authority that the Appellant has come before
us in second appeal.
3. During the hearing, we heard the submissions of both the parties and carefully examined
the contents of the application preferred by the Appellant before the CPIO. We note that the
Appellant had indeed asked for a large number of details including the details regarding the loan
sanctioned, line of credit, reduction in the rate of interest, premium paid etc in respect of 25
different borrowers. It is obvious that while some of the generic information regarding these 25
borrowers can easily be disclosed without compromising their competitive position, disclosure of
information regarding such details as the premium paid or reduction in interest rates etc can
affect the competitive position of those parties. To this extent, the decision of the first Appellate
CIC/WB/A/2008/001243-SM
Authority appears to be in conformity with the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. We,
therefore, find no fault in his order and uphold it.
4. The appeal is thus disposed off.
5. Copies of this order be given free of cost to the parties.
Sd/-
(Satyananda Mishra)
Information Commissioner
Authenticated true copy. Additional copies of orders shall be supplied against application and
payment of the charges prescribed under the Act to the CPIO of this Commission.
(Vijay Bhalla)
Assistant Registrar
CIC/WB/A/2008/001243-SM