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

Order Date: August 03, 2026

Case Overview

The appeal was filed by Sabbani Maruthi against the CPIO, SEBI, Mumbai, concerning an RTI application dated June 06, 2026. The appellant sought extensive information regarding SEBI's internal Study Leave Policy for its employees and officers, covering the period from January 01, 2015. The requested information included the policy document and its amendments, eligibility criteria, financial benefits, statistical data on applications and approvals, details of officers who availed the leave, total expenditure incurred, and details of officers who resigned post-leave. The respondent (CPIO) denied information for queries 1-5, 7, and 8 under Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act, claiming it pertained to the strategic internal functioning of SEBI. For query 6, which sought the total expenditure on Study Leave, the respondent stated the information was not available in the format sought.

The Appellate Authority found that for queries 1-5, 7, and 8, the respondent had not provided sufficient justification for invoking the exemption under Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act. The Authority noted that these queries were not adequately addressed, warranting a fresh examination. Regarding query 6, the Authority upheld the CPIO's response, citing precedent from the Hon'ble Central Information Commission (CIC) in Prateek Tewari v. CPIO, SEBI (Order dated January 19, 2023) and the judgment of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi in The Registrar, Supreme Court of India vs. Commodore Lokesh K. Batra and Ors. The Authority affirmed that the RTI Act does not require a public authority to provide information in a specific format if it is not already available in that form.

Final Outcome

The appeal was disposed of. Queries 1-5, 7, and 8 from the original RTI application were remitted to the respondent CPIO for de novo consideration. The CPIO was directed to send an appropriate response to the appellant on these queries within 15 working days from the receipt of the order. The response to query 6 was upheld and deemed satisfactory.

Topics: RTI Appeal, SEBI Internal Policy, Administrative Law