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The RTI Act Does Not Mandate the CPIO to Compile Information Already Available on the Public Domain
The appellant Mr. Kuntal Shah filed an appeal to the First Appellate Authority (FAA) borne out of the application under the Right to Information (RTI) Registration No. ISBBI/R/E/20/00095 and ISBBI/R/E/20/00096.
The appellant in the application asked the information of all large accounts where the debt value is more than Rs.2000 crores and have been admitted under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, whereas the information provided is only in respect of 12 large accounts by the respondent. The details of the support service provider(s) to the RP/IRP was also not provided as contended by Mr. Shah.
In RTI request Nos. 2 to 6, the respondent has completely ignored the specific queries in each question and has given a generic reply by clubbing queries 2 to 6 without any reason. To which the respondent submitted that the information sought by the appellant is not collated and maintained in the form in which it is sought.
Further, such information is available in the public domain. There is no obligation under the Act to furnish information which is already available in the public domain. In relation to RTI, the subject matter of the information was similar, and therefore, the same was clubbed and replied to.
The First Appellate Authority based on facts and relying on the observations of the Hon’ble CIC in Shri Ram Singh vs. Central Public Information Officer and K. Lall vs. M.K. Bagri held that the information requested was not held by the public authority and was freely available in the public domain and that the appellant could have very well taken the same from the website.
As regards, RTI request No. 2, it is seen that the respondent provided information to the applicant as to the source of information which was already available in the public domain.
This FAA understands that there is no requirement under the Act to provide information to an applicant in the format of query made by them, for which it relied on the observation of Hon’ble CIC in Shri H. Tiwari v. Airport Authority of India and in in the Registrar of Supreme Court of India Vs. Commodore Lokesh K Batra & Ors. by the Division Bench of Delhi High Court.
The Act does not mandate the CPIO to compile information already available on the public domain and to provide the applicant in the format he wishes. Since such information was already available and was accessible, the respondent was justified in guiding the appellant in accessing the requested information and that he has not denied the appellant information.
In view of the facts of the case, it was evident that the respondent has not denied the requested information as sought in the applications and hence no room for any directions to the respondent, the appeal was disposed of.
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