Income derived by a petrol pump from a plot of land sought under RTI

Background        

The appellant sought information regarding the income derived by a petrol pump from a plot of land. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information stating that it falls in the personal domain and it would not be correct to pass on any such information to an individual which concerns information contained in IT returns filed by others. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) denied the information under 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 stating that the department holds the information of the assesse in a fiduciary capacity and it cannot be given unless information sought is in larger public interest.

View of CIC

The Central Information Commission (CIC) observed that the appellant had sought information regarding income derived by a petrol pump from a plot of land which implies disclosure from the IT returns submitted by the petrol pump. The Commission rejected the appeal stating that the income tax returns constitute ‘personal information’, which is exempt from disclosure under section 8(i)(j) of the Act.

Citation: Mr. Natwar Kumar Choudhary v. Income Tax Department in File No.CIC/DS/A/2011/001524/RM