O R D E R

(01.06.2023)

1. The issue under consideration arising out of the second appeal dated 29.09.2021 include non-receipt of the following information sought by the appellant through the RTI application dated 14.06.2021 and first appeal dated 03.09.2021:-  With ref to the news published in The New India Express dated 13th June, 2021, under the caption banks write off rupees 1.53 lakh crore bad loans in FY 21 to look good, the following information is needed.

(i) The list of defaulters of the loans availed and the amount sanctioned to these defaulters in Punjab National Bank where Rupees 15,877/-crore is write off in the FY 21 are needed.

(ii) Details of movable and immovable assets of these defaulters whose loan were written off in FY 2021.

(iii) Copies of legal notices sent to the defaulters to recover the loans are needed.

(iv) Copies of documents to substantiate to write - off the loan Rs 15,877 croreare needed.

(v) Copies of communications received from defaulters towards the notices served to them to settle the loan availed.

(vi) The list of Officials of the bank who sanctioned these bad loans to these defaulters are needed.

(vii) Steps taken if any with the officials of the banks to recover the dues from their salary who sanctioned loans to the tune of Rupees 15,877/- crore.

2. Succinctly facts of the case are that the appellant filed an application dated 14.06.2021 under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Punjab National Bank, Dwarka, New Delhi, seeking aforesaid information. The CPIO vide letter dated 22.07.2021 replied to the appellant. Aggrievedby the same, the appellant filed first appeal dated 03.09.2021. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) vide order dated 07.09.2021 disposed of the first appeal. Aggrieved by that, the appellant filed second appeal dated 29.09.2021 before the Commission which is under consideration.

3. The appellant has filed the instant appeal dated 29.09.2021 inter alia on the grounds that reply given by the CPIO was not satisfactory. The appellant requested the Commission to direct the CPIO to provide the complete information and take necessary action as per Section 20 (1) of the RTI Act.

4. The CPIO replied vide letter dated 22.07.2021 and the same is reproduced as under:- i.

Fresh Technical Write Off in FY 20-21
Number of ACs	Fresh amount (crores)
127	17215.4

(ii) to (vii) This information sought is third party information and exempted from disclosure u/s 8 (1) (j) of RTI Act, 2005.”

The FAA vide order dated 07.09.2021 upheld the reply of the CPIO.

5. The appellant remained absent and on behalf of the respondent Shri Jaseem Siddiqui, AGM (Law) and Shri Kunal Chauhan, Law Officer, Punjab National Bank, Delhi attended the hearing in person.

5.1. The respondent while defending their case inter alia submitted that they had furnished the information with respect to total number of accounts written-off and total amount for the financial year 2020-2021. However, the remaining details contained personal information, therefore, the information was exempted under the provisions of section 8 (1)

(j) of the RTI Act.

6. The Commission after adverting to the facts and circumstances of the case, hearing the respondent and perusal of records, observed that due reply was given by the CPIO on 22.07.2021. Further, in the absence of the appellant or any written objections thereof, the averments made by the respondent were taken on record. There appears to be no public interest in further prolonging the matter. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed.

Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.

Sd/- (Suresh Chandra) (सरु ेशच(cid:8)ं ा)

Information Commissioner (सचू नाआय(cid:14)ु )

(cid:21)दनांक/Date: 01.06.2023 Authenticated true copy R. Sitarama Murthy (आर. सीताराममूत#)

Dy. Registrar (उपपंजीयक)

011-26181927(०११-२६१८१९२७)

Addresses of the parties:

THE CPIO: PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK HEAD OFFICE, LAW DIVISION (RTI), 3RD FLOOR, EAST WING, PLOT NO. 4, S

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