Higher CIC bench to decide disclosure of loan defaulters names

Business Standard: New Delhi: Monday, 29 September 2014.

An issue of disclosing names and details of big bank loan defaulters will be decided by a larger bench of the Central Information Commission due to complexity of issues involved in making such names public.

NPAs or bad loans of PSU banks rose by 28.5 per cent from Rs 1.83 lakh crore in March 2013, to Rs 2.36 lakh crore in September 2013.

The case relates to a plea of activist Subhash Agrawal who sought disclosure of names of loan defaulters with outstanding of over Rs one crore with public sector banks.

After being denied information by Reserve Bank of India, Agrawal pleaded before Information Commissioner Manjula Parashar that the information should be provided because it is in larger public interest that defaulters of bank loans may be highlighted (and made to face embarrassment) by putting their names in public domain.

"Otherwise also RBI gets all such information from banks in its role as supervisory and controlling authority with no question of treating sought information as fiduciary in nature," Agrawal claimed before the Commission.

The RBI cited a high court stay order, without producing a copy, saying information cannot be disclosed. They also cited privacy clause of RTI Act which exempts disclosure of personal information.

Parashar said it appears that similar issues are under adjudication by the Delhi High Court and an interim stay against the decision of the Commission has been granted by the high court.

"There has been contradictory views expressed in the decisions of the Commission regarding application of exemption under section 8(1)(e) to the details regarding NPA accounts," Parashar said while ordering the case to be dealt by higher bench of the Commission.