Sebi faces heat to name entities in Reliance insider trading case :Sebi has also been asked to give details of the file notings that led to the notification of the consent order mechanism.

Business Standard: New Delhi: Friday, November 09, 2012.

The Right to Information (RTI) movement, which has shaken up the government, has begun to knock on the doors of corporate India. In a significant move, the Central Information Commission (CIC), the apex body under the RTI Act, 2005, has directed the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to share the details of several entities that were involved in the Reliance Petroleum (RPL) insider trading case in 2007.

It also told the regulator to share details of the investigation reports and proceedings on the consent application filed by Reliance Industries (RIL) in this case.

The directions came on an appeal by Arun Kumar Agarwal, a Bangalore-based lawyer. Earlier, the Sebi’s Chief Public Information Officer (CPIO) had refused to share these details with Agarwal under RTI on the grounds that investigations and quasi-judicial proceedings were pending.

But the commission said, “After carefully considering the facts of the case and the submissions made before us, we are inclined to agree to the demand of the appellant that the disclosure of this information would serve a larger public interest,” in an order dated November 6. It added, “We direct the CPIO to provide the first two items of information to the appellant within 10 working days of receiving this order.”

The commission also directed the market regulator to give details of the file notings and other proceedings that led to the notification of the consent order mechanism in 2007.