Can information regarding PAN and Account Number of dead person be disclosed to his disciple?
22 Jun, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Income Tax (IT) seeking information regarding a PAN card issued to Shri Param Ji alias His Holiness. The appellant also wanted to know the order by which the PAN was issued, the copies of the Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filed by that person along with the copies of the assessment orders passed in this regard. The Public Information Officer (PIO) 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. of the RTI Act.
Proceedings
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC) the appellant was absent but had sent a written submission stating that she is one of the disciples of Shri Param Ji alias His Holiness, who expired on 2.6.2009, but only the attachment of Bank Account was intimated to her. The appellant pointed out deficiencies in the procedure adopted by the IT Department in dealing with the Properties / Assets / Accounts of the said person and requested the Commission to pass a suitable order for providing information pertaining to the procedure and application of section 281B of the Income Tax Act 1961 and the attachment of Bank account and subsequent recovery of the money after death of EITHER and without intimation to the SURVIVOR. She specifically wanted the documents pertaining to the proceedings conducted by the IT Department for imposing income tax, proceeding adopted for realization of tax, amount of total income tax imposed on him, name of disciples and the name of Banks which was provisionally attached by the IT Department-along with closing balance in the respective bank account and the amount realized-after death of survivor and before completion of cut-off time period of attachment permissible under section 281B of the Income Tax Act 1961.
View of CIC
The Commission observed that the appellant is seeking huge information regarding the financial aspects of the PAN Number and the Account Number mentioned in the application. The CIC held that the sought information was personal information which is barred 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. of the RTI Act. The CIC also ruled that the IT Department is holding the information in fiduciary capacity in terms of 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.
Citation: Ms. Sushila Singh v. CIT in File No. CIC/RM/A/2012/000284/LS
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1385
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission