Information submitted by third party for allotment of PAN Card sought under RTI
21 Jul, 2012Background
The appellant sought a certified copy of application for allotment of PAN along with its enclosures like partnership deed or registration certificate in respect of a company. The Public Information Officer (PIO) stated that information relating to PAN and other information relating to PAN such as address, documents submitted as proof of identity and address was personal information of the PAN holder and subject to confidentiality under section 138 of IT Act. The PIO also stated that the information submitted by applicant along with PAN application form was held by the department in a fiduciary capacity and was of a personal nature, hence exempted from disclosure under section 8(i)(e) and 8(i)(j) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
View of CIC
The First Appellate Authority (FAA) submitted that information sought by the appellant contains personal information relating to issues such as nature of the business, percentage of share holding, source of funds, partnership details and plans regarding conducting of the business which were exempted from disclosure under section 8(i)(j) of the RTI Act and the appellant has not been able to prove any public interest. The Central Information Commission (CIC) rejected the appeal noting that the information sought was of a personal nature.
Citation: Mr. H.K.Sharma v. Income Tax Department in File No.CIC/DS/A/2011/001229/RM
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/492
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