Quantum of tax benefits enjoyed by the Society – CIC: names and address of charitable institutions which have been granted exemptions u/s 10, 11, 12 of IT Act are disclosable - ITR and related financial statements are exempt from disclosure u/s 8(1)(j)
11 Sep, 2013FACTS
1. Vide RTI dt 29.8.12, appellant had sought the following information in respect of Aastha Society, Kisan Colony, Sikar:
- Copies of IT Returns for last 5 years along with full set of financial statements;
- Certified copy of request with enclosures made by the Society for granting tax exemption benefits;
- Quantum of tax benefits enjoyed by the Society u/s 10, 11 or 12A of the IT Act; and
- Quantum of tax exemption u/s 80G of the IT Act, to donors.
2. CPIO vide letter dt 4.10.12, informed the appellant that copies of ITRs cannot be provided as they are exempt 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. of the RTI Act and referred to two CIC orders. Information in respect of query no.3 was nil as the office does not grant exemptions. Insofar as the list of donors is concerned, as it is not part of the return filed, hence the information is not available.
3. An appeal was filed on 13.10.12.
4. AA vide order dt 20.11.12, directed CPIO to provide information in respect of query no.3 while agreeing with other decision of the CPIO.
5. Submissions made by the appellant and public authority were heard. Appellant submitted that in pursuance of the AA’s order, CPIO vide letter dt 3.12.12 had provided information in respect of query no.3. A copy is submitted to the Commission and taken on record. Appellant further submitted that as they have been provided information in respect of query no.3 by JCIT Jhunjunu, this information should also be provided to them in respect of the other two cases pertaining to JR Tantia Charitable Trust, Ganganagar and MB Health & Hygiene Nursing Sikshan Sansthan. He also submitted that they are withdrawing point no.4 of the RTI query. Appellant also quoted two CIC decisions (CIC/LS/A/2009/00190 dt 9.3.10 and CIC/AT/A/2008/00523 dt 11.2.09) in support of his submissions. In support of their contention of larger public interest, it was submitted that the Society is running Veterinary College without approval of the Veterinary Council of India.
6. The public authority stated that their written submissions have been sent by fax on 14.8.13. The Commission is in receipt of the same and is taken on record.
DECISION
7. The Commission finds that the larger bench decision of the CIC dt 9.3.2010 had only permitted disclosure of names and address of charitable institutions/entities which have been granted exemptions u/s 10, 11, 12 of the IT Act where as the appellant is seeking details of quantum of tax benefits enjoyed by the Society. As such the ratio of the above case does not apply to the present appeal.
8. We find that the information sought by the appellant in query no.1, 2 and 3 relates to IT Returns and related financial statements which are exempt from disclosure as per the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Girish Ramchandra Deshpande. In the absence of any larger public interest being shown, 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. of the RTI Act is upheld. The appeal is disposed of.
(Rajiv Mathur)
Central Information Commissioner
Citation: Dr. Sandeep Kumar Gupta v. ACIT in File No.CIC/RM/A/2013/000108