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

Order Date: October 12, 2026

Case Overview

The appeal (No. 7106 of 2026) was filed by Amith Narayana against the CPIO, SEBI, Mumbai. The appellant had originally filed an RTI application on September 06, 2026, seeking highly specific, certified details regarding the calculation of his refund from the PACL Ltd. matter. The information requested included:

1. A certified copy of the calculation worksheet used by the Justice (Retd.) R.M. Lodha Committee to arrive at his eligible refund amount of Rs. 5,129 for PACL Certificate No. U267029xxx.

2. An itemized breakup showing the total verified deposit/principal, specific deductions, and the net payable amount.

3. Any deficiency codes or remarks explaining why portions of the claim were rejected.

4. A certified copy of the master ledger entry for his certificate from the PACL database.

The respondent (CPIO, SEBI) replied on September 23, 2026, stating that the requested information was not available with SEBI and directed the appellant to public resources on the SEBI website. The appellant filed this appeal on September 24, 2026 (Reg. No. SEBIH/A/E/26/00361), arguing that the response provided was incomplete, misleading, or false.

The Appellate Authority, perused the record and found the matter could be decided without a hearing. It concurred with the CPIO's response, citing a precedent from the Hon'ble Central Information Commission (CIC) in Sh. Pattipati Rama Murthy vs. CPIO, SEBI (July 8, 2013), which held that a CPIO cannot invent information that is not in its possession.

The authority clarified that the responsibility for disposing of PACL's properties and repaying investors lies with the Justice (Retd.) R.M. Lodha Committee, constituted pursuant to a Supreme Court order dated February 2, 2016. SEBI's role was to provide links to publicly available information, such as Status Reports, FAQs, Press Releases, and Public Notices on its website.

Final Outcome

The appeal was dismissed. The Appellate Authority found no deficiency in the CPIO's response and upheld the decision that the requested certified calculation details are not available with SEBI. The appellant was guided to the Justice Lodha Committee and public domain resources on SEBI's website for information pertaining to PACL Ltd. matters.

Topics: PACL Refund, RTI Appeal, SEBI Compliance