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+====== Reserve Bank of India v. Jayantilal N. Mistry (2016) ======
+{{htmlmetatags>metatag-keywords=(RBI Jayantilal Mistry, RBI v Mistry RTI, fiduciary relationship RTI, Section 8(1)(e) Supreme Court, RBI inspection reports RTI, rti right to information india)
+metatag-description=(Supreme Court judgment in Reserve Bank of India v. Jayantilal N. Mistry (2016) 3 SCC 525 — narrow reading of the "fiduciary relationship" exemption under Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act, 2005.)}}
+{{page>snippets:dpdp-banner}}
+<WRAP center round didyouknow 95%>
+**Did you know?** Before //Jayantilal Mistry//, regulators routinely refused RTI requests by labelling their supervisory work as "fiduciary". The Supreme Court replied that a regulator is not the regulated party's friend — it is the public's watchman. Section 8(1)(e) has been read narrowly ever since.
+</WRAP>
+<WRAP center round info 95%>
+**In one line.** The Supreme Court held that the Reserve Bank of India cannot refuse to disclose its **inspection reports** and related supervisory records of banks under Section 8(1)(e) by claiming a fiduciary relationship — the RBI is a statutory regulator, not a fiduciary of the banks it supervises.
+**What that means in practice.**
+  * The "fiduciary" shield in **Section 8(1)(e)** requires an actual duty to act in the other party's interest. A regulator's duty is to the public.
+  * Supervisory records, inspection reports, and action-taken reports against regulated entities are **disclosable**.
+  * Section 8(2) public-interest override applies where commercial confidence or third-party data is involved.
+</WRAP>
+===== Citation =====
+//Reserve Bank of India v. Jayantilal N. Mistry//, (2016) 3 SCC 525.\\
+**Bench:** Justice M.Y. Eqbal and Justice C. Nagappan.\\
+**Date of judgment:** 16 December 2015 (reported 2016).
+===== The facts =====
+A series of RTI applications were filed before the Reserve Bank of India seeking:
+  * **Inspection reports** of cooperative banks and scheduled commercial banks.
+  * **Action-taken reports** on irregularities flagged during inspection.
+  * **Details of penalties and censures** issued against regulated entities.
+The RBI refused disclosure on three grounds:
+  - **Section 8(1)(a)** — sovereignty and economic interests of the State.
+  - **Section 8(1)(d)** — commercial confidence of the regulated banks.
+  - **Section 8(1)(e)** — information held in a fiduciary relationship between the RBI and the banks it supervises.
+The Central Information Commission directed disclosure. The RBI appealed through the High Court and reached the Supreme Court.
+===== The Supreme Court's reasoning =====
+==== Fiduciary relationship — Section 8(1)(e) ====
+The Court held that a **regulator is not a fiduciary** of the entity it regulates. The trust element that defines a fiduciary relationship — a duty to act in the other party's interest — is absent between the RBI and the banks it supervises. The RBI's duty is to the **banking system and the public at large**, not to the individual bank. Therefore, Section 8(1)(e) does not apply.
+==== Economic interests — Section 8(1)(a) ====
+The Court rejected the vague invocation of "sovereignty and economic interests" as a generic shield. The RBI must show a **specific and substantial harm** to economic interests before relying on this ground. Routine inspection reports do not meet that bar.
+==== Commercial confidence — Section 8(1)(d) ====
+The Court recognised that some portions of inspection reports contain **genuinely commercial confidential data** of the regulated bank. The remedy is **Section 10 severance** — redact those specific portions and release the rest. Not a blanket refusal.
+===== Implications =====
+  * **Regulators generally** — including RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, PFRDA, TRAI — cannot hide behind a blanket "fiduciary" shield. Supervisory records of regulated entities are broadly disclosable.
+  * **Narrow reading of Section 8(1)(e)** — the fiduciary must owe a specific duty to the other party, not merely hold information about them. See [[explanations:fiduciary-relationship|Fiduciary relationship]].
+  * **Section 10 severance** — the standard remedy where a record mixes exempt and non-exempt portions.
+===== Related on this site =====
+  * [[:act|The RTI Act, 2005 — current text]]. Section 8(1)(e).
+  * [[explanations:fiduciary-relationship|Fiduciary relationship under RTI]].
+  * [[explanations:grounds-for-rejection|Grounds for rejection — concept note]].
+  * [[explanations:severability|Severability — Section 10]].
+  * [[important-decisions:cbse-and-anr-vs-aditya-bandopadhyay|CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay (2011)]] — file notings.
+  * [[important-decisions:thalappalam-coop-vs-state-of-kerala|Thalappalam v. Kerala (2013)]] — "substantially financed".
+  * [[important-decisions:start|Case law library]].
+===== Status vs the 14 November 2025 DPDP amendment =====
+//Jayantilal Mistry// engages **Section 8(1)(e)**, which was **not** amended by the DPDP Rules, 2025. The judgment remains fully good law. The reasoning on public-interest override (Section 8(2)) continues to operate for banking-supervision disclosures.
+===== Sources =====
+  - The Right to Information Act, 2005 (No. 22 of 2005), Sections 8(1)(a), 8(1)(d), 8(1)(e), 8(2), 10.
+  - //Reserve Bank of India v. Jayantilal N. Mistry//, (2016) 3 SCC 525.
+===== Last reviewed on =====
+April 2026
+{{tag>rti case-law supreme-court section-8-1-e fiduciary rbi regulator 2016}}

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