Copy of accounts of the firm were denied u/s 8(1)(j) – Appellant: the firm owes more than Rs 90 lakhs to him and he wanted to file a suit against the said firm – CIC: ITR and related documents are personal information and exempt from disclosure
18 Dec, 2013ORDER
FACTS
1. Vide RTI dt 1.3.13, appellant had sought information on two points in respect of M/s Power 100% including copy of accounts of the firm on 1.4.07 to 31.3.08.
2. CPIO vide letter dt 10.4.13, denied the information under section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. as it was third party information.
3. AA vide order dt 13.5.13, observed that the appellant was seeking this information as Power 100% owe more than Rs 90 lakhs to the appellant’s firm and the appellant wanted to file a suit in the appropriate court. AA upheld the decision of the CPIO and disposed of the appeal.
4. Submissions made by the appellant and public authority were heard. Appellant submitted that in response to a query from IT authorities, he had informed them that the company M/s Power 100% (proprietor Shri Hakikat Singh) owed him Rs 90,00,789.41 as on 31.3.08. He merely wanted a confirmation from the IT authorities as to the amount shown by M/s Power 100%, as being owed to him. He further clarified that the accounts statement which he was seeking was in respect of his company only. Public authority submitted that the information sought was a third party information and hence the same was denied. He placed reliance on a full bench decision of the Commission in the case of Milap Choraria Vs CBDT and submitted that the documents being sought were a part of the ITRs of third party (M/s Power 100%).
DECISION
5. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Girish Ramchandra Deshpande has held that Income Tax Returns and related documents is personal information and exempt from disclosure under section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. of the RTI Act unless larger public interest is shown. In the instant case, the appellant has not been able to show any larger public interest. Accordingly, the denial of information under section 8(1)(j) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: Provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. is upheld. The appeal is disposed of.
(Rajiv Mathur)
Central Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri Baljinder Singh v. IT in File No.CIC/RM/A/2013/000653