Except for the dates of appointment, market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) does not have any information readily available on its chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch's appointment, her application for the post, declaration of assets and cases where she had recused herself due to conflicts of interests, reveals a reply received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. While SEBI refuses to share information under the RTI Act, its 11 August 2024 press release contradicts with its stand.
In that statement, SEBI stated, “...it is emphasised that SEBI has adequate internal mechanisms for addressing issues relating to conflict of interest, which include disclosure framework and provision for recusal. It is noted that relevant disclosures required in terms of holdings of securities and their transfers have been made by the chairperson from time to time. (The) chairperson has also recused herself in matters involving potential conflicts of interest.”
Delhi-based RTI activist commodore (Cmde) Lokesh Batra (retd) had filed the application seeking information on the appointment of Ms Buch as SEBI chairperson, financial assets declared by her and recusal from hearing cases due to conflict of interest.
Here is the information asked by Cmde Batra from SEBI...
(a) Provide me the information on the 'Laid down Act/ Rules/ Process / Procedure' followed for the appointment of Chairperson/ Chairman of SEBI.
(b) Provide me the date when Ms Madhabi Puri Buch had applied for the post of chairperson of SEBI.
(c) Provide me the dates when the current chairperson Ms Madhabi Puri Buch was appointed and assumed the duty as chairperson of SEBI.
(d) Provide me the date/ dates when the current chairperson of the SEBI, Ms Madhabi Puri Buch had made declaration(s) of complete details of 'Financial Assets and Equities' held by her (Ms Madhabi Puri Buch) to the SEBI board and government of India. Copies of the said declaration(s) are also requested.
(e) Provide me the date/ dates when the current chairperson of the SEBI, Ms Madhabi Puri Buch had made declaration(s) of complete details of 'Financial Assets and Equities' held by her concerned family members to the SEBI board and government of India. Copies of the said declaration(s) are also requested.
(f) Provide details of all the matters where the chairperson had recused herself involving potential conflict of interest.
Responding to the first two queries, Santosh Kumar Sharma, central public information officer (CPIO) of SEBI, says, "The appointment of SEBI chairperson is done by the Central government. Hence, the information sought by you is not available with SEBI."
On the date of the appointment of Ms Buch as SEBI chairperson, the CPIO stated that the information is available in the public domain and shared a link to the e-Gazette and SEBI websites.
On the three queries, Mr Sharma from SEBI says, "Since the information sought does not pertain to you and the same relates to personal information, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest and may cause unwarranted invasion into the privacy of the individual and may also endanger the life or physical safety of the person(s). The same is, therefore, exempt in terms of section 8(1)(g) and 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act."
"Further, the information on cases where Madhabi Puri Buch recused herself due to potential conflicts of interest during her tenure is not readily available and collating the same will lead to disproportionately diverting the resources of the public authority in terms of section 7(9) of the RTI Act," the SEBI CPIO says.
Section 8(i)(j) of the RTI act states, "Information which relates to personal information, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the central public information officer or the state public information officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information."
However, under the law, there is a proviso attached to this particular exception which states that "Provided that the information, which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a state legislature shall not be denied to any person."
This effectively means that any information, that the PIO will disclose to the Parliament or the state legislature, has to be disclosed to the citizens as well.
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