Bombay HC Rules SEBI Not Obliged to Collect RTI Data from Exchanges

The Bombay High Court has clarified that a public authority like the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is not required to collect information from third parties to satisfy Right to Information (RTI) requests. The court ruled that if a public body does not already possess the requested data, it is not under a legal obligation to procure it from external entities such as stock exchanges. This decision emphasizes the boundary of the 'right to information,' stating it applies only to information already held or controlled by the authority. The bench noted that RTI applicants cannot compel a regulator to initiate a new collection process for their personal queries.

The judgment centered on the interpretation of Section 2(f) of the RTI Act, which defines 'information.' The court held that while the Act allows access to information that a public authority can legally access from a private body, it does not mandate the authority to exercise those powers specifically to answer an RTI application. The petitioner had sought specific trade data from stock exchanges through SEBI, arguing the regulator should fetch the data using its oversight powers. However, the court rejected this stance, maintaining that the RTI Act's primary purpose is transparency of existing records rather than creating or fetching new ones for individual citizens.

This ruling provides significant relief to various public authorities across India that frequently face voluminous RTI requests involving third-party data. By defining the limits of information gathering, the court has prevented the administrative burden that would arise if regulators were turned into data-collection agents for private litigants. For the average Indian citizen, this means that RTI queries should be directed toward the specific entity that holds the data. If the information is not within the public authority's immediate possession, the request may legally be denied, reinforcing the need for applicants to identify the correct data custodian.