Copy of balance sheet of a company was denied stating it was personal & disclosure would harm the competitive position of third party - FAA: balance sheet is a part of ITR of the company - CIC: information sought is exempt u/s 8(1)(j), appeal rejected

ORDER

FACTS

1. Vide RTI dt 10.6.13, appellant had sought copy of balance sheet of M/s Buhariwala Logistics for FY 2007-2012.

2. CPIO vide letter dt 11.7.13, denied the information u/s 8 as no larger public interest was involved.

3. AA vide order dt 14.8.13, observed that as the information sought related to third party, the CPIO had issued a notice u/s 11(1) Where a Central Public Information Officer or a State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, intends to disclose any information or record, or part thereof on a request made under this Act, which relates to or has been supplied by a third party and has been treated as confidential by that third party, the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, shall, within five days from the receipt of the request, give a written notice to such third party of the request and of the fact that the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, intends to disclose the information or record, or part thereof, and invite the third party to make a submission in writing or orally, regarding whether the information should be disclosed, and such submission of the third party shall be kept in view while taking a decision about disclosure of information: and third party had objected to disclosure of information as it was personal and commercial information. Accordingly, the stand of the CPIO was upheld.

4. Written submission is received from ITO 12(2)(4)/CPIO Mumbai stating that a notice u/s 11 of the RTI Act was issued to M/s Buhariwala who have objected to disclosure of information as it was personal and disclosure would harm their competitive position. The request had accordingly been denied as the information sought was third party information. Reliance was also placed on the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Girish Ramchandra Deshpande wherein ITRs were held as personal information which cannot be disclosed unless a larger public interest is involved.

5. Submissions made by the appellant and public authority were heard. Appellant submitted that he was working as COO in the company during the period 2007-2012 and as per the agreement the company is required to pay him a fixed amount as commission. He suspects that he has not been paid the commission due to him and hence his request for copies of the balance sheet of the company for the period when he was employed with them. FAA submitted that balance sheet is a part of the IT Returns of the company and being third party information, the same has been denied in the light of the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Girish Ramchandra Deshpande.

DECISION

6. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Girish Ramchandra Deshpande has held that Income Tax Returns and related documents is personal information and exempt from disclosure u/s 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 unless larger public interest is shown. In the instant case, the appellant has not been able to show any larger public interest. Accordingly, the denial of information u/s 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. is upheld. The appeal is disposed of.

(Rajiv Mathur)

Central Information Commissioner

Citation: Shri Gurvinder Singh Prince v. ITO in File No.CIC/RM/A/2013/001047