Authority: Appellate Authority under the Right to Information Act, 2005, Securities and Exchange Board of India

Order Date: October 16, 2026

Case Overview

The appeal was filed by Ranjeet Kumar Swain against the response provided by the CPIO, SEBI, Mumbai to an RTI application dated August 06, 2026. The appellant sought information regarding the refund status for his father's deposit of ₹9,00,000 in Micro Finance Limited (CIN: U65923OR1983PLC001232). The appellant noted that while his father's name was included in a list of depositors submitted by CBI to the court, no refund had been received.

The specific information sought included: 1) Present status of asset attachment and auction, 2) Amount recovered and deposited in SEBI Refund Account, 3) Number of depositors refunded and total amount disbursed, 4) Procedure and timeline for refund to remaining depositors, and 5) Contact details of the Nodal Officer/Recovery Officer handling the refund process.

SEBI's response indicated that through an order dated October 27, 2016, Micro Finance Limited and its directors were directed to refund money collected from investors with returns within three months. As the company and directors failed to comply, SEBI initiated recovery proceedings and attachment of bank accounts, demat accounts, and mutual fund folios for recovery of ₹88,92,00,000 with interest, costs, charges, and expenses. SEBI had recovered approximately ₹1.98 crore from defaulters but had not initiated any refund process. For query no. 5, SEBI provided the email address of the Recovery Division of ERO but withheld specific officer details under Sections 8(1)(g) and 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.

The Appellate Authority found that SEBI had adequately addressed queries 1-4 with available information. Regarding query 5, since no refund process had been initiated, no further intervention was warranted. The authority also noted that the appellant could not expand the scope of the RTI enquiry at the appeal stage, citing the Hon'ble Central Information Commission's decision in Harish Prasad Divedi vs. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (January 28, 2014).

Final Outcome

The appeal was dismissed, upholding SEBI's response. No further action was required from SEBI, and the refund process for Micro Finance Limited depositors remains uninitiated despite recoveries of approximately ₹1.98 crore.

Topics: RTI Appeal, Investor Refund, SEBI Recovery Proceedings