Should the list of all Indians having accounts in foreign banks be disclosed under RTI?

Background        

The appellant filed a RTI application with Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Ministry of Finance seeking list of all Indians having accounts in foreign banks along with their assets and the list which was provided by the German government. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information under section 8(1)(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Proceedings

During the hearing, the appellant referred to a decision made by full bench of the Central Information Commission (CIC) dated 28.9.2010 wherein the disclosure of information relating to the cases being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate was ordered. The respondent submitted that the secrecy clause in the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty with Germany was the basis on which the sought information was withheld in terms of section 8(1)(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; and 8(1)(f) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information received in confidence from foreign Government; of the RTI Act.

View of CIC

The Central Information Commission (CIC) rejected the appeal stating that the order of the full Bench of the CIC referred to by the appellant was not applicable in the instant case.

Comments

Without going into the merits of the case, it is worth noting that the order by the Commission has been in a single line and is a non-speaking order. The reasons why the full bench order is not applicable ought to have been given by the Commission in its order.

Citation: Mr. Aseem Takyar v. Ministry of Finance, CBDT in File No.CIC/DS/A/2011/001490/RM