Electoral bonds: CIC says revealing names of donors not in public interest, violates RTI
The electoral bond scheme, which was notified by the Centre in 2018, allows citizens and corporates to buy monetary instruments from the SBI and donate them to a political party, which is then free to redeem it for money.
CIC in an order issued this January had directed the Centre to reveal the names of electoral bond scheme donors who wanted their identities to remain confidential. The Central Information Commission (CIC), the lead body for implementing the Right to Information Act, has now ruled that the disclosure of identity of electoral bond scheme donors will not serve any larger public interest and will violate provisions of the Act itself.
In an order issued on December 21 that was uploaded on Tuesday, Information Commissioner Suresh Chandra, while dismissing an appeal by a Maharashtra-based activist Vihar Durve – who had sought information of the scheme donors – remarked that “there appears to be no larger public interest overriding the right of privacy of the donors and donees concerned”.
Upholding the contention of the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the State Bank of India (SBI), the commission further observed that the “disclosure of names of donors and the donees may be in contravention of provisions contained in section 8 (1) (e) ( j ) of the RTI Act itself, which exempt a public authority to give a citizen information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrant the disclosure of such information”.
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