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BEFORE THE APPELLATE AUTHORITY

(Under the Right to Information Act, 2005)


SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA
Appeal No. 2132 of 2015
Abhaya Kumar Mishra

Appellant

Vs.
CPIO, SEBI, Mumbai

Respondent

ORDER
1.

The appellant had filed an application dated February 23, 2015, under the Right to
Information Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as "RTI Act"). The respondent vide letter dated
March 17, 2015, responded to the appellant. The appellant has filed this appeal dated April 9,
2015 (received at SEBI on April 16, 2015), against the said response. I have carefully
considered the application, the response and the appeal and find that the matter can be
decided based on the material available on record.

2.

From the appeal, I note that the appellant is aggrieved by the respondent's response to the
following queries of his application, viz.

i.

"Please give me copies of all the 'File Noting available in SEBI Office' with respect to SEBI Exit Order
dated 9th February, 2015, of Bhubaneswar Stock Exchange Ltd. (BhSE).

ii.

Please give me a copy of the Undertaking dated 23rd December, 2014, submitted by BhSE to SEBI as
referred to in Para 11(c)(e)(f)(g) and 13(b) of SEBI Exit Order dated 9th February, 2015, of BhSE."

3.

In his response, the respondent inter alia informed the appellant that file noting regarding exit
of BhSE alongwith undertaking submitted by BhSE was of commercial confidence, held by
SEBI in fiduciary capacity. In view of the aforesaid, the respondent invoked the provisions of
Sections 8(1)(d) and 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act to deny information to the appellant. However, the
respondent informed the appellant that SEBI had passed an Order on February 9, 2015,
providing exit to BhSE in compliance with the Exit Circular dated May 30, 2012 and the same
was
available
on
the
SEBI
website
i.e.
http://www.sebi.gov.in/sebiweb/home/list/2/9/2/0/Orders-of-Chairman-Members.

4.

In this appeal, the appellant has inter alia submitted:


" De-recognition and Exit of BhSE in public interest is a public action by SEBI and this is not a private
and confidential action, therefore, action by SEBI should be wide open to public scrutiny whether it is in public
interest or notThere is no commercial confidence and fiduciary relationship involved in the 'file noting
available in SEBI office' and 'BhSE Undertaking to SEBI' with respect to SEBI Exit Order dated 9th
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February, 2015 There being no interest in BhSE for more than 15 years and BhSE has failed to fulfill the
interest of the investors There is no trade secret involved in the documents and information sought by the
applicant will (not) affect the competitive position of BhSE in the industry as the BhSE is by now a closed
entity by virtue of the SEBI Exit Order"
5.

I note that in his response, the respondent had inter alia invoked the provisions of Sections
8(1)(d) and 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act to deny information to the appellant in respect of file noting
regarding exit of BhSE alongwith undertaking submitted by BhSE to SEBI. In this regard, I
note that the aforesaid information may contain information in the nature of commercial
confidence of such entity. In this context, I also note that while disposing of a batch of Writ
Petition (Civil) Nos. 8396/2009, 16907/2006, 4788/2008, 9914/2009, 6085/2008, 7304/2007,
7930/2009 and 3607 of 2007, the Honble High Court of Delhi in its Order dated November 30,
2009, held that the 'person' referred to in section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act will include a public authority. It
also held that: In a fiduciary relationship, the principal emphasis is on trust, and reliance, the fiduciarys
superior power and corresponding dependence of the beneficiary on the fiduciary. It requires a dominant position,
integrity and responsibility of the fiduciary to act in good faith and for the benefit of and to protect the beneficiary
and not oneself. I find that SEBI, being a public authority under the RTI Act as well as the
regulatory authority for the securities market, gets various documents/correspondences from
stock exchanges, etc. and the information contained in those documents are received in
'fiduciary relationship'. I, therefore, find that such information obtained in fiduciary relationship
by SEBI, which may contain information in the nature of commercial confidence, etc. of the
concerned entity, is exempted from disclosure under Sections 8(1)(d) and 8(1)(e) of the RTI
Act. In view of the aforesaid observations, I find no deficiency in the respondent's response to
the abovementioned query of the appellant's application.

6.

Without prejudice to the foregoing, I note that in his response, the respondent nonetheless
informed the appellant that SEBI had passed an Order on February 9, 2015, providing exit to
BhSE in compliance with the Exit Circular dated May 30, 2012 and the same was available on
the SEBI website i.e. http://www.sebi.gov.in/sebiweb/home/list/2/9/2/0/Orders-ofChairman-Members. Upon a consideration of the aforesaid response, I find no deficiency in
the respondent's response to the appellant's request for information.

7.

I, therefore, find that there is no need to interfere with the decision of the respondent. The
appeal is accordingly dismissed.

Place: Mumbai
Date: April 23, 2015

S. RAMAN
APPELLATE AUTHORITY
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA

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