IBBI First Appellate Authority Allows RTI Application By A Company Seeking Information Regarding Complaint Against IRP

In Utility Premises Private Limited v. Central Public Information Officer, the Executive Director and First Appellate Authority, Santosh Kumar Shukla, IBBI, allowed the RTI application filed by Utility Premises Private Limited seeking information about the complaint filed by it against the IRP, Mr. X. The RTI application filed by the Appellant herein, Utility Premises Private Limited, was denied by the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO).

The following information was requested in relation to the complaint filed against Mr. X, IRP-X, at the IBBI under Section 217 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

1) What is the status of the investigation into the complaint that was filed?

2) Have any steps been taken, and if so, what are they?

3) Has the IRP been summoned and interrogated about the complaint and charges?

4) What is the deadline for completing such an inspection/investigation?

5) What is the next step after the investigation is completed?

The CPIO denied the request, claiming that the RTI Act only allows residents to request information. The Appellant in this instance cannot obtain information under the Act since it is not a citizen. The First Appellate Authority upheld the appeal and ordered the CPIO to handle the Appellant’s information request on the merits.

The Authority based its decision on the CIC’s decision in J.C. Talukdar vs. C.E.(E) CPWD Kolkata (CIC/WB/C/2007/00104 & 105 dated 17 May 2007), which stated that-

“All “citizens” have the “right to information” under Section 3 of the RTI Act. A “citizen” under Part II of the Constitution, which deals with “citizenship,” can only be a natural born person, and it does not imply that a legal or a juristic person is a “citizen.” Even if it were conceded that a company or corporate body is a legal entity separate from its shareholders and is not a citizen in and of itself, it is a fact that all superior courts have been admitting applications from companies, societies, and associations under Article 19 of the Constitution, of which the RTI Act, 2005 is a child, in the exercise of their extraordinary jurisdiction. Only a few petitions have been denied because the applicants/petitioners are corporations, businesses, or associations, and thus are not “citizens.”

This Commission has likewise received a significant number of such applications from such organizations. If the courts can grant relief to such entities, the PIOs should not dismiss them on the technicality that the Applicant / Appellant is a legal entity rather than a citizen. Finally, we direct that an application/appeal filed by an association, a partnership firm, a Hindu Undivided Family, or any other group of individuals organized as a body or otherwise be accepted and allowed.”

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