RTI Jurisprudence – SEBI is not obliged to collect information from Third Party

Judgment dated 18.8.2026 of the High Court of Bombay in Writ Petition No.1664 of 2009 of Securities and Exchange Board of India Vs.  Yogesh Babulal Mehta and others with connected writ petitions.

Bombay HC Relieved SEBI from RTI obligation to collect information from BSE and furnish to RTI applicant

SEBI Not Bound to Collect Third Party Information from BSE under RTI

RTI powers do not create duty of SEBI to collect information from Third Party

Regulatory authority does not translate into a statutory duty to collect information from regulated entities for the purpose of RTI disclosure. Information must be disclosed only when it is already held by, or is under the control of, the public authorit

RTI is a right to information, Not a duty of SEBI to collect from BSE

RTI Act & Obligation of SEBI to collect information from third private body or party and furnish to an applicant

Nine writ petitions – five by SEBI and four by BSE challenging the order dated 25.5.2009 of the Chief Information Commissioner.

according to CIC, any information in the hands of a private body, accessible under law by a public authority, is rendered accessible to an applicant under the provisions of the RTI Act. It is upon the said conclusion reached by the CIC that directions have been issued in the impugned orders to SEBI for obtaining information from a third party like BSE and to provide the same to the applicants within stipulated period of time.

a public authority is obligated to disclose only the information it possesses or controls. It is neither required to collect information from a private entity, nor to compile or create information to satisfy an RTI applicant. Applying this principle, the petitioner is under no legal obligation to collect, compile, or generate the information sought by the respondent, which is neither a part of their records nor statutory functions