2025 (9) TMI 1168

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....dated 24.12.2024 passed by the learned Single Judge whereby the writ petition bearing W.P.(C) 17928/2024 filed by the appellant was dismissed. The appellant is also seeking a direction to respondent no.1/SEBI to provide copy of the speaking order regarding part disposal of the complaint of the appellant being SEBIE/TN21/0000913/1 as well as the status and details of the investigation on the website/portal. She further seeks a direction to respondent no.1 to complete the investigation in a time bound manner. 2. The facts in brief are that a complaint was filed by the appellant on 09.09.2021 seeking a detailed and thorough investigation in the matter of Offer for Sale (OFS) of equity shares of respondent no.3 company. Vide email dated 28.0....

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....nstrained to invoke the writ jurisdiction of this Court. Vide impugned order dated 24.12.2024, the learned Single Judge dismissed the underlying writ petition filed by the appellant, holding that (i) the information regarding the status of her complaint was duly provided to her; and (ii) the information regarding internal investigation is exempted under Section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act. Aggrieved thereof, the present appeal has been filed. 6. Heard the learned counsel for the respective parties and perused the records. 7. From the records, we find that the appellant had filed a complaint with SEBI on the SCORES portal in relation to an allegation that in allocation of OFS of respondent no.3/WABCO India Ltd., a major chunk of shares unde....

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....as noted that maintenance of confidentiality of examination/investigation is of paramount importance since reports of the same may result in unwarranted speculation or concern in the market or may affect evidence collection during the examination/investigation or may even result in unnecessary harm to third parties. It was thus concluded that there was no deficiency in the original response by the CPIO and resultantly, the appeal was dismissed. 8. Being aggrieved by the order dated 15.09.2023 of the First Appellate Authority, the appellant preferred a Second Appeal before the Central Information Commissioner (CIC) who by the order dated 09.09.2024 dismissed the said appeal. The Second Appellate Authority while adverting to the order pass....

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....e same had been provided to the appellant. A written submission of the respondent is reproduced as under:- "The appellant, in her application dated April OJ, 2023, inter alia, sought the Information regarding the status about the ongoing internal investigation as per the order dated September 28, 2021, passed by the SEBI in complaint no. SEBIE/TN21/0000913/1. It may be noted that all the complaints which are lodged in the SCORES system, the related correspondence, Action History etc., can be accessed online on SCORES portal under the tab "View Complaint Status" by providing the complaint registration number and password, which is allotted at the time of registering the complaint. With regard to appellant's complaint regarding a....

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....ect to the ongoing investigation, if at all, the statutory authorities have also given reasons as to why and under what circumstances the disclosure of such information may impede the investigation process in terms of Section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act and also the fact that such disclosure may not only affect confidentiality of examination/investigation but may also affect evidence collection and result in unnecessary harm to third parties. In our opinion, these reasons cumulatively are sufficient not to disclose the information sought by the appellant. It is also relevant to note that the appellant only sought status of her complaint and not the nature of investigations which, according to the statutory authorities, is already on the SCORES p....