The Supreme Court of India said that the Reserve Bank of India was “duty bound” to reveal its annual inspection reports on banks along with the complete list of defaulters under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, unless they are exempted under law.
A bench comprising Justices L Nageshwara Rao and M.R. Shah directed the banking regulator to withdraw its non-disclosure policy which is in non-adherence to an order passed by the apex court in 2015. Under the passed order the court had asked the central bank to reveal information under the provisions of RTI.
The RBI has been given ‘one last opportunity’ to observe with the orders. The SC declared that any further breach would call for contempt of court proceedings against the RBI.
RTI activists Girish Mittal and Subhash Chandra Agrawal had approached the apex court for contempt action against the central bank for not complying with the apex court’s direction to disclose information under the RTI Act.
