November 06, 2018:

On Monday, RBI Governor Urjit Patel has been served a show-cause notice by the Central Information Commission (CIC) for “dishonouring” a Supreme Court judgment on disclosure of willful defaulters' list.

CIC has also asked the Prime Minister's Office, the Finance Ministry & the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to make public the letter of former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on bad loans.

RBI annoyed over the denial of information on the disclosure of the names of willful defaulters who have taken bank loans of Rs. 50 crore & above by the RBI in spite of a Supreme Court order, asked Patel to explain why a maximum penalty should not be imposed on him for "dishonouring" the verdict which had upheld a decision taken by then Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi.

Patel said that the guidelines on vigilance, issued by the CVC, were aimed at achieving greater transparency, promoting a culture of honesty & probity in public life and improving the overall vigilance administration in the organisations within its purview.

Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said,"The Commission feels that there is no match between what RBI Governor and Deputy Governor say and their website regarding their RTI policy, and great secrecy of vigilance reports and inspection reports is being maintained with impunity in spite of the Supreme Court confirming the orders of the CIC in the Jayantilal case."

He concluded that it did not serve any purpose in punishing the CPIO for this defiance, because he acted under the instructions of the top authorities.

Acharyulu added, "The Commission considers the Governor as deemed PIO responsible for non-disclosure and defiance of SC orders and CIC orders and directs him to show cause why maximum penalty should not be imposed on him for these reasons, before November 16, 2018."

Source Link

Picture Source :