Disclose top 100 loan defaulter businessmen: CIC to RBI

The Central Information Commission has directed the Reserve Bank of India to make public the names and other details of top 100 industrialists of the country who have defaulted on loans from public sector banks.

The Commission also directed the bankers' bank to post on its website complete information on all such industrialists as part of suo-motu disclosure mandated under section four of the RTI Act before December 31 and asked it to update it every year.

The RBI had objected to making this information public saying it is held by it in fiduciary capacity and disclosing it would adversely affect economic interest of the State.

Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi agreed that information is fiduciary in nature but said that such exemption does not stand when there is larger public interest in the disclosure.

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"There can be no doubt that the information on defaulters received from banks are held by the Reserve Bank in a fiduciary capacity and are confidential in nature," an RBI official had said while deciding RTI application of P P Kapoor of Panipat, Haryana.

Kapoor had sought to know from the RBI the details of default in loans taken from public sector banks by various industrialists besides list of defaulters, top 100 defaulters, name of the businessman, address, firm name, principal amount, interest amount, date of default and date of availing loan.

During the hearing, Gandhi asked the RBI if the information about loan defaulters is held by it as part of statutory requirements. The Public Information Officer admitted that the Banks were providing the information in fulfilment of statutory requirements.