National Stock Exchange of India public authority under RTI Act, says Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) held that the National Stock Exchange of India (NSEI) is a ‘public authority’ under the Right to Information Act.

A bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice O.P. Shukla dismissed an appeal by the stock exchange challenging a single judge’s decision which ruled that NSEI qualified as a ‘public authority’ under section 2(h) of the RTI Act.

The court observed that if the body is owned, controlled or substantially financed by the government, it would qualify as a ‘public authority’.

It stated that this was not a case where an entity was established as a private company and was regulated by statute later.

“We affirm and uphold the judgment of the learned single judge. The appeal is dismissed, with no orders as to costs,” the court concluded.

The NSEI assailed the single judge’s judgement, passed on April 15, 2010, before the division bench.

The stock exchange had challenged an order of the Central Information Commissioner before the single judge and asserted that it was not a public authority under the RTI Act.

Before the division bench, the NSEI argued that it was not owned, controlled or substantially financed, directly or indirectly, by the government, and was merely recognised and regulated by the SEBI.