Can details of complainant and enquiry report be disclosed to the RTI applicant?
29 May, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Income Tax (IT) department seeking information about the complaints made against him and copy of the enquiry report. The Public Information Officer (PIO) declined 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. of the RTI Act. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) upheld the decision of the PIO and denied the information under section 8(1)(g) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; of the RTI Act stating that if the names of the complainant are disclosed to the appellant, their personal safety may be jeopardized. The appellant as well as the public authority did not attend the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC).
View of CIC
The Commission referred to an earlier decision of the Supreme Court (Bihar Public Service CommissionVs Sayed Hussain Abbas Rizvi; Link - http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/BiharPublicServiceCommission-v-SaiyedHussainAbbasRizwiDec20121358759307.pdf) wherein it was held that names of the interviewers or the Members of the Interview Board cannot be disclosed as doing so, would expose them to danger to their lives or physical safety. Besides, it would hamper them in effective performance and discharge of their duties as examiners. The CIC ruled that disclosure of names of the complainants would expose them to danger to their lives and physical safety. It will also be inhibited in filing complaints in future thereby depriving the Income Tax Department of a potent source of information which may adversely affect the revenues of the State. The Commission rejected the appeal holding that information has been correctly denied 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.
Citation: Mr. B. Bhaskar v. Income Tax Department in File No.CIC/RM/A/2012/000375/LS
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1324
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission