Govt Denies Information under RTI on Appointment of Shaktikanta Das as RBI Governor: Report

Moneylife Digital Team 27 March 2019

Investor Interest

The Union government has refused to share details under Right to Information (RTI) Act on appointment of Shaktikanta Das as governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), says a report.

Replying to an RTI query, the government has declined to share the details, including names of short-listed candidates and file notings related to the appointment of Mr Das as RBI governor.

The government has cited a clause in the RTI Act that bars disclosure of information, including records of deliberations of the council of ministers, secretaries and other officers, the report says.

On 11 December 2018, Mr Das was appointed as RBI governor for three years replacing Dr Urjit Patel. Dr Patel had abruptly resigned from the post amid a face-off with the government over issues related to governance and autonomy of RBI.

The RTI application was filed by a correspondent from PTI, seeking copy of any advertisement or vacancy circular issued by the government on appointment of RBI governor, names of all applicants who had applied for the post and those short-listed for the top post from the department of financial services (DFS).

The DFS was also asked to provide details on composition of search committee to short-list candidates and copy of minutes of meetings held on deciding the RBI governor.

In its reply, the DFS said the selection of RBI governor is done by the appointments committee of the Cabinet on the basis of recommendation made by the financial sector regulatory appointments search committee (FSRASC).

The committee is headed by cabinet secretary and has additional principal secretary to prime minister and secretary of the department concerned besides three outside experts as its members, the DFS said, without giving the names of the experts.

It had then forwarded the application to the cabinet secretariat.

"In this regard, it is informed that the requisite information about appointment of Shaktikanta Das as Governor, Reserve Bank of India, being Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) related file notings/documents/records, is exempted from disclosure under Section 8 (1) (i) of the Right to Information Act 205," the cabinet secretariat said in its reply to the RTI application.

The Section bars disclosure of "cabinet papers, including records of deliberations of the council of ministers, secretaries and other officers."

The section, however, says that the decisions of council of ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over.

Mr Das, a 1980-batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, retired as economic affairs secretary in May 2017 and was since appointed India's Sherpa to the G-20 and a member of the Finance Commission.

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