(ET)
The Reserve Bank of India has challenged the Central Information Commission’s show-cause notice to Governor Urijit Patel directing him to disclose the list of wilful defaulters of bank loans. The transparency watchdog, which had kicked up a political storm by issuing the notice, had given the RBI until November 26 to respond. Two days before the deadline, the RBI filed two writ petitions in the Bombay high court challenging the order by Information Commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu, who retired on November 20, according to people aware of the matter. The petitions – W P L / 3 9 6 9 / 2 0 1 8 a n d WPL/3602/2018 – have been posted for hearing on December 14. When contacted, the registry dealing with Acharyulu’s cases could not furnish details of the petitions or the grounds on which the RBI had challenged the notice. “We were informed of the writ petitions by RBI but they have not been furnished so far,” a senior CIC official who did not wish to be identified.
