Authority: Appellate Authority under the RTI Act, Securities and Exchange Board of India

Order Date: August 14, 2026

Case Overview

The appeal was filed by Ebenezer R (Appellant) against the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), SEBI, Mumbai (Respondent). The dispute originated from an RTI application dated June 24, 2026, in which the appellant sought detailed information on all books purchased for the SEBI library from January 1, 2020, to May 2026. The requested details included the title, author, publisher, date of purchase, number of copies, and cost for each book, as well as the year-wise total expenditure.

The CPIO responded on July 14, 2026, stating that the information was not maintained in the specific format requested. However, the respondent provided the year-wise total expenditure on books from calendar year 2020 to May 2026. The appellant filed a first appeal on July 16, 2026 (Reg. No. SEBIH/A/E/26/00259), arguing that the provided information was incomplete, misleading, or false. The Appellate Authority noted that the appellant had also attempted to modify the original queries at the appeal stage.

The authority's reasoning relied on precedent from the Hon'ble Central Information Commission (CIC). It cited the order in Prateek Tewari v. CPIO, SEBI (January 19, 2023), which established that a CPIO cannot be directed to provide information in a particular format if it is not available in that form. It also referenced Harish Prasad Divedi vs. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (January 28, 2014) to state that an appellant cannot expand the scope of the original RTI enquiry at the appeal stage.

The authority concluded that a CPIO is only obligated to provide information that is available and existing in the records. Since SEBI had provided the available information (year-wise totals) and the detailed, itemized records were not maintained in the requested format, the CPIO's response was deemed sufficient.

Final Outcome

The appeal was dismissed. The decision of the CPIO was upheld, and no further action was required from SEBI. The appellant is not entitled to receive the itemized list of book purchases, only the year-wise expenditure totals that were already provided.

Topics: RTI Appeal, SEBI Compliance, Information Disclosure