Deccan Herald: New Delhi: Wednesday,
June 15, 2016.
The Central
Information Commission (CIC) has asked authorities whether former cricketer
Sachin Tendulkar has declared himself an actor or a sportsperson while filing
I-T returns.
The
commission asked authorities to seek Tendulkar’s opinion before disclosing the
details on an RTI plea by a Supreme Court advocate.
The apex
transparency panel said since the information relating to I-T assessee is
“personal information”, the third party procedure has to be followed. After being denied information, advocate
Pranesh approached the CIC, contending that since Tendulkar has been awarded
the Bharat Ratna under the sportsperson category, what more public interest
would be there than the people of this country to know whether he filed his
returns as an “actor” or a “sportsman”.
The I-T
department refused to divulge the details, saying the information was related
to third party and was exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(j) of the
RTI Act.
It further
submitted in the absence of PAN of the assessee, it was difficult to extract
the information from the voluminous records of the department. Pranesh said the
assessee being an MP is a public servant and his I-T returns should be in
public domain. The non-submission of PAN of such a famous personality is a mere
excuse for withholding information.
While
disposing the appeal, Information Commissioner Basanth Seth said the
authorities are bound to follow the procedure meant for third party
information. He directed the I-T department to decide the matter afresh after
seeking response from Tendulkar.
Among other
things, the advocate sought to know whether in the revenue records of the
government, Tendulkar was an actor or a cricket player and if he has asked for
any tax rebate from the Central or any state government.
.JPG)
.JPG)
