In, the First Appellate Authority of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) dismissed an RTI appeal challenging the response of the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) regarding disclosure of information connected with CIRP proceedings of Micro Dynamics Private Limited. The appellant had sought details regarding the date and time of uploading the admission order on the IBBI website, the identity and designation of the official who uploaded the order, and details relating to filing and uploading of Form-A public announcement. The CPIO informed that the admission order was uploaded on 22.01.2026 and the public announcement on 17.08.2022, while denying disclosure of the official’s identity under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. The Appellate Authority upheld the denial, holding that the information sought constituted personal information exempt from disclosure absent larger public interest. It further observed that certified copies available in the public domain need not be separately furnished under RTI.
BEFORE THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND FIRST APPELLATE AUTHORITY INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY BOARD OF INDIA
7th Floor, Mayur Bhawan, Shankar Market,
Connaught Circus, New Delhi -110001
Dated: 27th May 2026
Order under section 19 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) in respect of RTI Appeal Registration No. ISBBI/A/E/25/00016
IN THE MATTER OF
Ishrat Ali
… Appellant
Vs.
Central Public Information Officer
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India
7th Floor, Mayur Bhawan, Shankar Market,
Connaught Circus, New Delhi -110001
… Respondent
1. The Appellant has filed the instant Appeal dated 3rd May 2026, challenging the communication of the CPIO Respondent under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
2. In its RTI application, the Appellant had sought the following: –
“1. Kindly inform the Date & Time of uploading the said (alleged) admission order dated 23.09.2019 in CP(IB)-4108/MB/2018 onto the official website of the IBBI. Kindly also inform if the copy of the said order that was uploaded onto the IBBI website was a Certified Copy of the order or was an uncertified plain draft (hence kindly provide a PRINT of the said alleged order in its original form as it was uploaded).
2. Kindly inform the Designation (and name) of the official who uploaded the said alleged order onto the official website of the IBBI?
3. Kindly inform the Date & Time of filing to IBBI & uploading onto the website of the IBBI, the FORM-A i.e. Public Information in respect of CIRP which commenced following Fraudulent Planting of alleged admission order dated 23.09.2019, in CP(IB)- 4108/MB/2018.”
In its reply dated 24.04.2026, the CPIO has stated that the admission order in respect of CIRP of Mirco Dynamics Private limited was uploaded on the website of IBBI on 22.01.2026. On query 2 and 3, the CPIO has stated that the sought information is exempted from disclosure in terms of section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005 and the Public Announcement in respect of CIRP of Mirco Dynamics Private limited was uploaded on the website of IBBI on 17.08.2022. Aggrieved with the reply, the Appellant has filed the instant Appeal stating that the CPIO has failed to provide complete information as sought by the Appellant.
3. I have carefully examined the applications, the responses of the Respondent and the Appeals and find that the matter can be decided based on the material available on record. In terms of section 2(f) of the RTI Act ‘information’ means “any material in any form, including records, documents, memos e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force.” It is pertinent to mention here that the Appellant’s “right to information’ flows from section 3 of the RTI Act and the said right is subject to the provisions of the Act. Section 2(j) of the RTI Act defines the “right to information” in term of information accessible under the Act which is held by or is under the control of a public authority. Thus, if the public authority holds any information in the form of data, statistics, abstracts, etc. an applicant can have access to the same under the RTI Act subject to exemptions under section 8.
4. The order of admitting Micro Dynamics Ltd. into CIRP (dated 23.09.2023) can be accessed from the NCLT website at https://efiling.nclt.gov.in/casehistorybeforeloginmenutrue.drt . Since the certified order is available in the public domain, the IBBI is not obligated to provide the same. It is relevant to refer to the decision of Hon’ble CIC in Shri Girish Prasad Gupta vs. CPIO, Indian Oil Corporation (decided on March 30, 2015), wherein it has held that:- “.., we note that the information that is placed by a public authority on its website is already available in the public domain and is, therefore, not under the control of the public authority. It can be obtained by any interested person by consulting the relevant website. If public authorities are required to provide hard copies of the information, already available on their website as part of suo motu disclosure, such suo motu disclosure will become futile, because the very purpose of such disclosure is to ensure that applicants do not have to approach public authorities to get a good deal of information already placed by them on their website.” Moreover, the information concerning the official who has uploaded the impugned order is exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, since the Appellant has not shown larger public interest to warrant such disclosure of personal information. In view of the aforesaid, the reply of the CPIO does not merit any interference.
5. The Appeal is, accordingly, disposed of.
Sd/-
(Kulwant Singh)
First Appellate Authority
Copy to:
1. Appellant, Ishrat Ali
2. CPIO, The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, 7th Floor, Mayur Bhawan, Shankar Market, Connaught Circus, New Delhi -110001.
