SC: Income tax returns and performance are personal information under RTI
5 Oct, 2012In repect of the disclosure of the details of the income tax returns and performance of an employee, the Supreme Court has ruled that they are "personal information" as per 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 Right to Information Act (RTI) Act the disclosure of which is exempt unless a larger public interest is involved.
Ruling of the Apex Court - An apex court bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra ruled that:
- The details disclosed by a person in his income tax returns are "personal information" which stand exempted from disclosure under clause (j) of Section 8(1) of the RTI Act, unless a larger public interest is involved and the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the Appellate Authority is satisfied that a larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information.
- The performance of an employee or officer in an organisation is primarily a matter between the employee and the employer and normally those aspects are governed by the service rules which fall under the expression 'personal information', the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or public interest.
In this case, the RTI applicant had approached the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner (Ministry of Labour) in August, 2008 seeking information relating to a person employed as an Enforcement Officer in the Sub-Regional Office at Akola. It was turned down claiming that the applicant has not succeeded in establishing that the information sought for is for the larger public interest.
The Supreme Court has agreed with the Central Information Commission (CIC) and has held that the copies of all memos issued to the public servant, show cause notices and orders of censure punishment etc. are qualified to be personal information as defined in 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.
Implication
Most of the information commissions were not providing copies of the Income Tax return while those in respect of the performance were treated differently by the various benches of the information commission.The decision would lead to clarity in the interpretation of what is ‘personal information’ and would aid the information commissions in taking a uniform view.
The judgment also provides for the conditions when the information of such nature can be provided. The SC ruled that the Public Information Officer is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information, appropriate orders could be passed but the petitioner cannot claim those details as a matter of right.
There have been cases of harassment of public officials from information seekers who seek information about his service matters and also the details of his assets and liabilities, movable and immovable properties. This judgment would provide a reprive to the government servants from such applicants.