The Supreme Court on 26 October 2026 upheld a cooperative-bank member’s right to obtain its construction agreement and general-body minutes through the statutory Registrar under the RTI Act.
Judge / Bench — J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran, JJ.; judgment by K. Vinod Chandran, J.
Dismissing Muppathadam Service Co-Operative Bank’s appeals, the Court held that information includes private-body records a public authority can lawfully access, even without physical custody. The Registrar’s access was not conditional on an inquiry already being initiated.
The Court rejected the claimed commercial-confidence and personal-information exemptions for these documents sought by a member, while distinguishing requests by unrelated outsiders. The Registrar must obtain and supply both records within two weeks.
Advocates appearing — Appellant bank: S.P. Chaly, Senior Counsel. Respondent 1: Abhilash M.R. Other respondents’ counsel: Not named in the judgment.
Party-in-person — Respondent 4, a bank member; name not identified in the judgment.