The income-tax department, which had been refusing to furnish details of IT returns to right to information (RTI) applicants, has finally chosen to do so under the RTI Act.
The department has furnished the I-T returns of D Ravikumar of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), the former MLA of Kattumannarkoil in Cuddalore district, for the accounting years 2008-09, 2009-10, in response to an RTI application by V Gopalakrishnan, an activist in KK Nagar.
Disclosure of details of Ravikumar's I-T returns gains importance as the department has been rejecting the RTI applications seeking income-tax returns of public servants. Last month, the department dismissed the RTI requests of Gopalakrishnan, when he sought the I-T returns of DMK president M Karunanidhi, Union home minister P Chidambaram, Union textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran, Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi and former telecom minister A Raja, as all of them had objected to the disclosure. And, in the case of an RTI query seeking the I-T returns of Union fertilizers minister MK Alagiri, the department rejected it without even calling for his objection.
The I-T returns of Ravikumar, furnished by the income-tax office in Cuddalore, shows that he got Rs 5.75 lakh as salary and allowances as an MLA during 2009-10 and the value of his assets was about Rs 31 lakh as on March 31, 2010. However, the income-tax department's Chennai office has refused to furnish the I-T returns of Ravikumar's party as the VCK objected.
Strongly opposing the applicant's request, the VCK said:
"The information sought by the applicant is personal in nature and also consists of important and sensitive details of the party, along with information pertaining to persons and entities associated with the party." The department in its RTI reply said it had asked the party's objections, if any, under Section 11 of the RTI Act. The provision says that a PIO, where he intends to disclose any information or record on a RTI request which relates to or has been supplied by a third party and has been treated as confidential by that third party, shall give a written notice to such third party. And the objection, if any, of the third party should be considered while taking a decision about disclosure of information.
While there are arguments that disclosure of I-T returns would amount to an intrusion of one's privacy, Gopalakrishnan cited a ruling of the Central Information Commission in his RTI application saying that the assesses were submitting the returns in consequence of their legal obligation and hence they were public documents.
While there are arguments that disclosure of I-T returns would amount to an intrusion of one's privacy, Gopalakrishnan cited a ruling of the Central Information Commission in his RTI application saying that the assesses were submitting the returns in consequence of their legal obligation and hence they were public documents.
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