JUDGMENT :

L. NAGESWARA RAO, J.

1. The three Contempt Petitions are filed complaining of wilful and deliberate disobedience of the directions issued by this Court in the judgment dated 16.12.2015 in Transfer Case (Civil) No.96 of 2015.

2. The subject matter of the judgment in Reserve Bank of India v. Jayantilal N. Mistry (2016 (3) SCC 525) is whether the information sought under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘RTI Act’) can be denied by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the other banks on the ground of economic interest, commercial confidence, fiduciary relationship or public interest. The facts of all the 11 Writ Petitions which were transferred to this Court are similar. The information that was sought by the Respondents in the transfer cases was refused on the ground that there was a fiduciary relationship between the RBI and the other banks, and hence, the information cannot be disclosed in view of the exemption under Section 8(1)(d) and (e) of the RTI Act. In all the cases that were transferred to this Court, the Central Information Commissioner directed the RBI to disclose the information sought for by the Respondents in the transfer cases.