The Centre has declined to share details on appointment of RBI Governor Urjit Patel and other candidates short-listed for the top post in the central bank, saying these are “cabinet papers” and cannot be made public.
Replying to an RTI query, the Cabinet Secretariat denied to share a copy of minutes of the meetings of the search committee for selecting the RBI Governor, details of the candidates considered by it and its recommendations.
“Information sought is exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1) (i) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act,” the Cabinet Secretariat said in reply to the RTI application. The Section bars disclosure of the Cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers.
“Provided that the decisions of the Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over,” the Section reads.
Mr. Patel was on August 20 named as the RBI Governor to succeed Raghuram Rajan, who demitted office on Sept. 4.
The Cabinet Secretariat said a Financial Sector Regulatory Appointment Search Committee has been constituted with the approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, which is headed by PM Narendra Modi, for recommending the names for appointment of chairperson and members of financial sector regulatory bodies.
