High Court backs disclosure of salaries of BML top officials
Despite the bank's statement, the judges held that since BML was a government-made company.
By
Aman Haleem
High Court on Sunday ruled that the Information Commissioner's Office (ICOM) has correctly held that the government and the public-owned Bank of Maldives (BML) should disclose the salaries of its board members and senior employees.
Right to Information (RTI) activist Aiman Latheef had filed a complaint with ICOM regarding the salaries of directors and senior employees of BML. Earlier, when the bank was approached for the information, the bank refused to provide it.
ICOM decided that the bank should disclose the information. The reason is that the high court had earlier ruled that the bank was entering the ambit of the RTI Act.
Challenging ICOM’s decision in the High Court, BML said:
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The bank was wrongly declared a 'state agency'
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Commissioner's decision violates RTI Act
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Despite being deemed to be a state agency, the information sought should not be disclosed in the interest of the business of the company
Despite the bank's statement, the judges held that since BML was a government-made company, it fell within the definition of a state agency mentioned in the RTI Act. The court also observed that the government has a majority stake in the company.
On salaries, the high court judges held that while they had the right not to disclose information that would be detrimental to business interests or financial interests, they could not be held to be a business secret.
"We do not believe that this information can be treated as a trade secret. It is not possible to give any reason to hold that disclosure of such information saying it would be detrimental to [the business or financial interests of the company]," the court said.
