The Times of India: Kochi: Thursday, July 05, 2012.
Central Information Commission (CIC) will be holding a hearing on an appeal to get the details of the income tax returns filed by former Chief Justice of India Justice K G Balakrishnan and his relatives in Kochi on July 19.
The appeal was filed by Kochi-based social activist Dr T Balachandran, who had earlier filed a request for those details under the Right To Information Act before the income tax authorities in Kochi.
Balachandran had sought the certified copies of the income tax returns submitted by P B Sreenijan (son-in-law of Justice Balakrishnan), Sony and Rani (daughters), K B Pradeep (son) and late K G Bhaskaran (brother) for the financial years 2005-'06, 2006-'07, 2007-'08, 2008-'09 and 2009-10', when Balakrishnan was the chief justice.
He had also sought the copies of reports in case the income tax department had carried out any investigation against the judge and his relatives. Dr Balachandran said he was seeking these details in the wake of serious allegations of corruption appearing in the electronic media against the relatives of Justice Balakrishnan.
However income tax authorities rejected the request of Dr Balachandran, accepting the contention of Justice Balakrishnan and his relatives that this would tantamount to unwarranted invasion into the privacy of individuals that was exempted from disclosure under different sections in the Right To Information Act.
Balachandran, however, filed an appeal with the CIC saying that the allegations against the ex-Chief Justice of India or any judge will have an impact on the image of the judiciary as a whole, and he was seeking those details in public interest.
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