Should the statement of a person be disclosed under RTI?
31 Aug, 2012Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Income Tax (IT) department seeking information related to a bank account in the Overseas Bank of a particular person and his son, such as information regarding purchase of a motorcycle by the said person, full enquiry report regarding expenditure of Rs. 4 lac incurred by him on the occasion of his daughter’s wedding, action taken by the IT authorities regarding purchase of a plot by him and enquiry done by the IT department in pursuance of appellant’s previous letter regarding presence of Rs. 8 lac in the IOB account of that person. He also wanted the copies of statement made by the person in the course of enquiries made by the IT department and certified copy of order issued by IT officer. The Public Information Officer (PIO) provided part information but denied the information relating to the statement made by the person and order issued by IT officer under section 8(1)(e) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; of the RTI Act.
Proceeding
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that he had not been provided complete information. The PIO submitted that they had informed the appellant that an enquiry had been done against the said person based on the complaint of the appellant. They also submitted that a notice for payment of Rs. 72,042/- had been served to him, against which the he had been an appeal which was under consideration. He further submitted that the certified copy of the final order could not be provided as an appeal was still pending.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) rejected the appeal observing that the information sought by the appellant has been provided.
Citation: Mr. Atul Kumar Sagar v. Income Tax Department, in File No.CIC/DS/A/2011/002349/RM
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/606
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission