Authority: Appellate Authority under the RTI Act, Securities and Exchange Board of India
Order Date: September 11, 2026
Case Overview
The appeal (No. 7051 of 2026) was filed by an anonymous appellant against the CPIO, SEBI, Mumbai regarding an RTI application dated July 30, 2026. The appellant had specifically requested the official email address, office phone number, and office address of the Chairman and CEO of KFin Technologies Ltd, explicitly excluding customer service, investor service, personal assistants, or any other employee contact details.
The respondent (CPIO, SEBI) responded on August 17, 2026, stating that the requested specific executive contact information was not available with SEBI. However, the respondent provided the general contact details of KFin Technologies Limited. The appellant filed an appeal on August 18, 2026 (Reg. No. SEBIH/A/E/26/00317) on the grounds that the provided information was incomplete, misleading, or false.
The Appellate Authority examined the application, response, and appeal. The authority referenced the Supreme Court of India's judgment in Central Board of Secondary Education & Anr. vs. Aditya Bandopadhyay & Ors (August 9, 2011), which established that the RTI Act only provides access to information that is available and existing in records, and does not obligate public authorities to collect or collate non-available information. The authority also cited the Delhi High Court's decision in Narendra Tyagi vs. Assistant Director (CPIO) (December 6, 2023), which clarified that disputes regarding the correctness of information provided under RTI cannot be adjudicated in RTI proceedings.
Final Outcome
The appeal was dismissed. The Appellate Authority found no deficiency in the respondent's response and determined there was no need to interfere with the CPIO's decision. The appellant was guided to use the general contact details of KFin Technologies Limited that had been provided by SEBI.
Topics: RTI Process, Regulatory Compliance, Information Disclosure