RTI on Bombay Stock Exchange

[anitalall]

Hi,

Can anyone please advise me if RTI is applicable to Bombay Stock Exchange and if yes, which is the competent authority to whom application can be made seeking information on some listed company. Further, are there any restrictions on the dissemination of any information/ protected information which may not be given to us by BSE under RTI.

Thanks

Anita Lall

[karira]

Anita,

Yes, Stock Exchanges all over the country are under the RTI Act.
This was a recent decision by the CIC and the exchanges have been given time to appoint PIO's etc...
These are still early days for getting information from the stock exchanges. The BES website (Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE site for SENSEX, stock quotes and market trend) still does not have any information under RTI.
Actually it depends on what type of information you are looking for...can you please elaborate ?
The following two threads will also be helpful to you:

Stock Exchanges now under RTI

Is it possible to ask information from a public Limited company

[karira]

Anita,

Yes, Stock Exchanges all over the country are under the RTI Act.
This was a recent decision by the CIC and the exchanges have been given time to appoint PIO's etc...
These are still early days for getting information from the stock exchanges. The BES website (Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE site for SENSEX, stock quotes and market trend) still does not have any information under RTI.
Actually it depends on what type of information you are looking for...can you please elaborate ?
The following two threads will also be helpful to you:

Stock Exchanges now under RTI

Is it possible to ask information from a public Limited company

[karira]

Please also see:

http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/914-st...under-rti.html

[vashisthvivek]

I think that CIC had ruled that the stock exchanges are under the purview of the RTI Act, but the Delhi High Court had stayed this order on 4th July, 2007

[karira]

vashistvivek,

Please see my following post:

Stock Exchanges now under RTI

CIC wants the matter to be taken to the Sumpreme Court.

[vashisthvivek]

Respected Karia Sir,
I have just gone through your aforesaid blog. The CIC has expressed his willingness to go the Supreme Court. But, the action in this regard does not seem to have been taken. The present position seems to be that the High courts have stayed the order of the CIC and the stay order is still in operation. Untill the stay order is not vacated, the order of the CIC will not be effective. In these circumstances, at present the stock exchanges are not P.As. under the RTI Act.

[sidmis]

BSE resists RTI Act scanner

Reported by Anshika Misra. Mumbai, DNA

Court to hear appeal on Feb 4

The Bombay high court will soon decide whether a citizen can seek trade information from a stock exchange under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has challenged a June 2007 order of the Central Information Commission (CIC), which held that stock exchanges are ‘public authorities’ and hence covered under the RTI Act.
The CIC order was passed in response to three appeals filed by persons who had been refused information sought under the RTI Act by the Jaipur Stock Exchange, the National Stock Exchange (NSE)and the BSE respectively.

The stock exchanges had refused to provide information stating that the RTI Act could be used to procure information only from a ‘public authority’ and that they were not covered by any such definition under the RTI Act.
In June 2007, a five-member bench of the CIC, however, deemed that stock exchanges were ‘public authorities’ as they were subject to writ jurisdiction. (Writs are judicial orders issued to a state or government body.) Normally, writs are not issued to individuals or private bodies, including public limited companies.

Though stock exchanges are registered as public limited companies, the CIC held that they still discharge an impotrtant public function as they regulate and control the business of sale and purchase of securities. It added that it is only the grant of recognition by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) which allows stock exchanges to function and they "remain under the implicit control of the government through Sebi." The CIC, thus, directed stock exchanges to appoint information officers as stipulated under the RTI Act.

In July 2007, the BSE moved he high court seeking a quashing of the June, 2007, order as it had not been served a notice for the hearing and added that the CIC had "erred" in holding it to be a 'public authority'. In an ad-interim order, chief justice Swatanter Kumar and justice DY Chandrachud had stayed the CIC order pending hearing of the petition. The matter is listed for hearing on February 4. The NSE has also challenged the CIC order in the Delhi HC.

The BSE has stated that being amenable to writ jurisdiction does not automatically mean that it falls under the narrow definition of 'public authority' under the RTI Act. It has argued that the grant of recognition as a stock exchange by Sebi is akin to grant of an institutional licence to carry on a particular business or activity.

BSE has added that it is privy to information regarding trading, client identity, arbitration details, investigation reports and surveillance action. Such information largely pertains to third parties and is held in confidence in a fiduciary capacity by the BSE. The information may also be of a sensitive nature and may disrupt investigations and surveillance procedures if made available to the public.

DNA [Daily News & Analysis] Homepage: Mumbai, India, World, breaking news, views, discussions

[karira]

As reported by Express news Service on expressindia.com on 10 February 2008:
‘Stock exchanges should also come under the purview of RTI Act’

‘Stock exchanges should also come under the purview of RTI Act’


Chandigarh, February 9 Reiterating his stand on the disclosure of information by the stock exchange under the Right to Information Act, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahut Habibullah today said the stock exchanges should come under the purview of the RTI Act as they discharge an important public function of regulating and controlling the business of sale and purchase of securities.

“Going by the definition of government or government authority under Section 2 (h) of the RTI Act, stock exchanges should give out the information sought by investors under the Act,” said Habibullah.

He was in Chandigarh today as chief guest at a workshop on ‘Right to Information’, jointly organised by the Chandigarh Consumer Forum, Citizens Awareness Group and the Sirhind Consumer Protection Forum at the Chandigarh Press Club.

Referring to the barrage of questions from the members of public, who seemed perturbed with the trends in the stock markets especially in the recent few weeks, Habibullah clarified, “We have given a ruling that they are public authorities and it was their duty to provide information. Same is the case with the Discoms (electricity distribution companies) which were created by the Act of Parliament,” he said.

Both Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the Discoms have resisted RTI, said Habibullah, and have challenged the order of the Bombay and Delhi High Court.

The CIC, however, remained equally perturbed by the “unsatisfactory” performances of the states as far as the maintenance of records and their computerisation and networking as referred to under Section 4 of the Act is concerned.

“The performance of all the states in the country remains unsatisfactory for compliance with Section 4 of the Act. Assessment of the implementation of the Act by an NGO, PRIA, found that states like Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, were on the top on performance under the RTI, while Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh finished lowest. In Punjab, Information Commission does not have that much pressure,” added the CIC.

E-governance, added Habibullah, would be given top priority in the implementation of the RTI Act.

“By 2009, the government has plans wherein every Panchayat would go digital and there would be a common service centre in each district where information can be assessed on computers.” He appreciated the Chandigarh model of the sampark and the e-smpark centres and said other states should replicate the same.

Speaking on the occasion, Director Public Relations, UT, Vivek Atray agreed that the CPIOs and information officers are still reluctant and negative while giving out information to the public. But he also appreciated the fact that with the advent of the RTI Act, the old mindset in government offices is changing rapidly.