Central Information Commission
Appeal No.CIC/SM/A/2008/00112 dated 16-05-2008
Right to Information Act-2005-Under Section (19)
Dated: 5 November 2009
Name of the Appellant : Shri Prabhshanker Gupta
S/o Shri Harishanker Gupta,
Mohalla Mewati Nagar, Alahaganj,
Distt - Shahjahanpur, U.P.
Name of the Public Authority : CPIO, Bank of Baroda,
Zonal Office, Jeevan Bhawan,
45, Hazratganj,
Lucknow - 226 001.
The Appellant was not present in spite of notice.
On behalf of the Respondent, Shri S.K. Agrawal, AGM was present.
2. In this case, the Appellant had, in his application dated May 16, 2008,
requested the CPIO for a number of information regarding his own loan
application under the PMRY and about the total number of loans sanctioned
by the Branch under this scheme. The CPIO replied on June 16, 2009 and
provided specific information against all the queries except the query
number 5 concerning details about the loans sanctioned to others. The
Appellant moved the first Appellate Authority against the order of the CPIO
on July 11, 2008. The Appellate Authority disposed of the appeal in his order
dated August 4, 2008 endorsing the decision of the CPIO not to disclose the
details about the loans sanctioned by the Branch in 2007-08 under the
scheme. The Appellant has come to the CIC against this order.
3. We heard this case through videoconferencing. The Appellant was not
present. The Respondent was present in the Lucknow studio of the NIC. We
heard his submissions. He argued that the details about all the borrowers
under the scheme could not be disclosed being in the nature of commercial
confidence, the disclosure of which was exempt under Section 8(1) (d) of
the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Normally, details about loan accounts of
CIC/SM/A/2008/00112
borrowers are not disclosed to third parties. However, the same Section also
stipulates that such information could be disclosed if it would serve a larger
public interest. The PMRY is a welfare scheme of the central government
having a subsidy component. The details about the loans sanctioned under
this scheme need to be placed in the public domain in order to ensure that
the benefits of the scheme reach the right people. Hence, we direct the
CPIO to provide to the Appellant within 10 working days from the receipt of
this order, the details of all the loans sanctioned under the PMRY by the
Branch during the year 2007-08 under the following heads: name of the
borrower, name of his/her village, amount of loan sanctioned and the
purpose of the loan.
4. The appeal is, thus, disposed off.
5. Copies of this order be given free of cost to the parties.
(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/SM/A/2008/00112