Should a wife be permitted to inspect the service book of her husband under RTI?
27 May, 2013Background
The appellant was the wife of an Income Tax (IT) Inspector. She filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Income Tax (IT) Department seeking to know whether her name had been mentioned as wife in the service book of her husband. She also wanted to know whether her husband had sought permission of the competent authority before a second marriage with another lady. The Public Information Officer (PIO) informed that the appellant that her husband had not mentioned the name of anyone as his wife in the service book and that her husband had not sought permission from the department for the second marriage.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) held that the appellant is legally wedded wife and therefore cannot be treated as third party. The CIC directed the PIO to offer inspection of the service book and other personal records of appellant’s husband to her.
Citation: Ms. Shahjahan v. IT Department in File No: CIC/RM/A/2012/000071/LS
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1305
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission