Authority: Appellate Authority under the Right to Information Act, 2005, Securities and Exchange Board of India
Order Date: September 17, 2026
Case Overview
The appeal was filed by Rajat Bindlish against the CPIO, SEBI, Mumbai regarding an RTI application dated July 21, 2026. The appellant sought detailed information about SEBI's prescribed mode of dispatch for statutory communications to shareholders under Regulation 36(1)(b) of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, as amended. The appellant requested certified copies of 12 categories of documents including circulars, notifications, guidance notes, internal records, enforcement orders, and communications with other authorities regarding the mandatory mode of dispatch for shareholder communications.
The CPIO had partially responded on July 31, 2026, providing information for queries 1, 2, and 6 by referring to the Expert Committee recommendations and amendment details, while declaring other queries as vague, not specific, or seeking clarification rather than information under Section 2(f) of the RTI Act.
Final Outcome
The Appellate Authority dismissed the appeal, upholding the CPIO's response. The authority concurred that queries 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 11 sought clarifications/opinions rather than information as defined under RTI Act, and query 10 was too vague. The authority cited precedents from the Central Information Commission (Azad Singh vs. CPIO and Ms. Sarika Jain vs NHPC) supporting that CPIOs are not required to create, interpret, or compile information as desired by applicants. For query 10, the authority noted that all SEBI enforcement orders are available on their website.
Topics: RTI Appeal, Shareholder Communications, SEBI LODR Regulations