The First Appellate Authority of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), by order dated 12 February 2026, dismissed an appeal filed under Section 19 of the RTI Act seeking information regarding the insolvency resolution process of Era Infra Engineering Limited. The appellant had requested details on the number of admitted financial creditors, total admitted claims, and IBBI’s role in verifying claim authenticity. The Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) responded that the relevant information was already available on the IBBI website. On appeal, the Authority held that under Sections 2(f), 2(j), and 7(9) of the RTI Act, a public authority is not required to collate or compile information in a specific format when it is already in the public domain, especially if doing so would disproportionately divert resources. Citing a CIC decision, the Authority found no larger public interest warranting further disclosure and upheld the CPIO’s reply.
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: 12th February 2026
Order under section 19 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) in respect of RTI
Appeal No. ISBBI/A/E/26/00002
IN THE MATTER OF
Vipin Kumar Tyagi
…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 present Appeal dated 6th January 2026, challenging the communication of the Respondent, filed under the Right to Information Act (RTI Act). Since the Appeal required detailed analysis of different provisions of the RTI Act, same is disposed of within 45 days of the receipt of the impugned Appeal.
2. The Appellant has sought the following information pertaining to the insolvency resolution process of M/S Era Infra Engineering Limited: –
“a. Total number of financial creditors admitted
b. Total admitted claims (Rs. 22,200.98 crores as per NCLT order)
c. IBBI’s role in verifying authenticity of admitted claims.”
In its reply dated 06.01.2026, the CPIO has replied that the details pertaining to the financial creditors and other claims admitted in the CIRP of M/s Era Infra Engineering Limited is hosted on the IBBI website. Aggrieved with the reply, the Appellant has filed the instant Appeal stating that the CPIO has wrongly denied the information sought and the denial amounts to evasion and dereliction of statutory duties by the CPIO.
3. I have carefully examined the application, the response of the Respondent and the instant Appeal 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. It is pertinent to note that a comprehensive and the latest updated list of claims, as admitted in the insolvency resolution process of the corporate debtor, is hosted on the IBBI website at https://ibbi.gov.in/uploads/claims/generate/CLAIMS1716966252pdf . Since the information is available in the public domain, the CPIO is not obligated to compile information in such format which may lead to disproportionate diversion of public resources under Section 7(9) of the RTI Act. Thus, I do not find any larger public interest for a direction to collate and compile the details of information and to provide the same to the Appellant in the manner as he desires. Such exercise would defeat ‘the practical regime of right to information’ as envisaged in the preamble of the RTI Act and would disproportionately divert the resources of IBBI.
5. In this context, I note that the Hon’ble CIC in the matter of Shri Praveen Agarwal vs. SEBI (Decision dated October 1, 2008), held:
“It is true that given the volume and the complexity of the information requested by the appellant, it would be impossible to locate and collate it without substantial research effort. A public authority cannot be obliged to engage in it for the benefit of an applicant, who may not be the only and, the last such applicant. Many more would want to have this privilege which doubtless would lessen the applicant’s research burden while increasing it for the public authority. Considering the fact that the information requested is unarguably in the public domain and that its range and volume is such that it would attract provisions of Section 7(9) of the Act, it is not possible to authorize its disclosure in the form in which the appellant had requested.”
6. In view of the aforesaid observations, the CPIO reply does not merit any interference. The Appeal is accordingly disposed of.
Sd/-
(Kulwant Singh)
First Appellate Authority
Copy to:
1. Appellant, Vipin Kumar Tyagi
2. CPIO, The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, 7th Floor, Mayur Bhawan, Shankar Market, Connaught Circus, New Delhi -110001.
