DNA:
Mumbai: Thursday, 07 May 2015.
The Bombay
high court on Wednesday reserved its order on an appeal filed by former chief
information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, seeking income tax returns of NCP
leader Ajit Pawar.
"You
cannot just use the word public interest, it has to be shown that larger public
interest is made out which overrides the privacy of the individual,"
observed justice RM Sawant, who is likely to pass an order in due course of
time.
Gandhi had
sought Pawar's I-T returns in 2009. He was, however, denied information by the
income tax department, with the public information officer invoking the third
party clause.
The former
commissioner then filed a first appeal, which upheld the decision of the public
information officer. At the stage of the second appeal, the information
commission, in a five-member bench order, ruled that the information was
"personal" in nature, and denied providing it as per section 8 (1)
(j) of the RTI Act. The commission also cited a Supreme Court order for the
same.
In his
petition, Gandhi has challenged the order, saying the commission did not apply
its mind and that it overlooked the fact that under section 8 (1) (j)
information that can be shared with Parliament or state legislature cannot be
denied under the particular section.
He added that
the income tax department does not verify the I-T returns with that of the
assets and liabilities filed by the elected representatives in their earlier
affidavits. It has been argued by him that income tax is a public office and
documents filed in it are public documents and should be accessed under the RTI
Act.
However,
Pawar has, citing privacy and exception made in the RTI section, opposed the
petition on the ground that individual documents cannot be shared.
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