CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Room No. 308, B-Wing, August Kranti Bhawan, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi-110066
File No. CIC/LS/A/2010/000204
Appellant : Shri V.R. Goswami
Public Authority : Income Tax Department, Bhopal
(through Shri S.P. Jamindar, ITO Ward 3(2),
Bhopal)
Date of Hearing : 23.4.2010
Date of Decision : 23.4.2010
FACTS
:
Vide RTI application dated 14.4.2009, the appellant had requested for
following information :-
“Certified copies of Bio-data and other relevant supported documents
thereof submitted by Ms Jayshree Bharti to obtain the PAN AGQPB
2070H.”
2. The CPIO had refused to disclose this information vide letter dated
24.6.2009. The AA had upheld the decision of CPIO vide order dated
11.9.2009. Aggrieved with the above decision, the appellant has filed the
present appeal.
3. Heard on 23.4.2010. Appellant is not present but he has sent a
written representation to request for adjournment in the matter for 02 weeks.
This request, however, is disallowed. The public authority is represented by
the officer named above. It is the say of Shri Jamindar that the appellant is
requesting for third party information which is personal in nature and can not
be disclosed to him u/s 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act. He also submits that the AA
provided an opportunity of hearing to the appellant but he did non avail it.
He has also filed a written representation signed by Ms Vandana Verma,
Addl CIT, Range-3, Bhopal (AA), the operative whereof is extracted
below :-
“Without prejudice to the above, it is submitted that the allotment of
PAN cannot be categorized as a facility provided to a person by the
IT Department for his/her personal benefits. It is a mandatory
requirement of the Income Tax Department as per the provisions of
the Income Tax Act, 1961. As such, the Bio-Data provided by a
person for obtaining PAN cannot be considered a document furnished
for obtaining any public facility.”
4. I have carefully perused the appeal memo and the ground taken
therein is extracted below :-
“According to the guidelines of RTI Act, 2005, if any person He/She
submits his/her complete bio-data submitted by he/she becomes the
public documents and in the context of the same, he/she can not
object the disclosure of such information on the grounds of invasion
of privacy.”
The appellant’s main plea is that disclosure of the bio-data of Ms
Jayshree Bharti would not invade her privacy. According to him, her
bio-data is not personal information and, therefore, is not exempted
from disclosure.
5. We are not inclined to agree with the submissions of the appellant.
PAN is a personal document which is issued by the Income Tax Authority.
It is a mandatory requirement for a Income Tax payee. It is also necessary
for opening bank accounts etc. It has many other uses in the modern society.
It is not clear to the Commission as to why the appellant is seeking copies of
documents submitted by Smt Jayshree Bharti to the Income Tax authorities
for obtaining PAN. We may further observe that the grounds adduced by
him in the appeal memo are not based on correct appreciation of law. It is to
be noted that personal information is exempted from disclosure u/s 8 (1) (j)
of the RTI Act and such information can be disclosed only when it is in
larger public interest to do so. From the material on record, I find no larger
public interest involved in the matter. Hence, I uphold the decisions of
CPIO and AA. The appeal is dismissed.
Sd/-
(M.L. Sharma)
Central Information Commissioner
Authenticated true copy. Additional copies of orders shall be supplied
against application and payment of the charges, prescribed under the Act, to
the CPIO of this Commission.
(K.L. Das)
Assistant Registrar
Address of parties :-
1. Shri S.P. Jamindar
ITO, Ward 3 (2),
Income Tax Department,
1st Floor, Aayakar Bhawan,
Hoshangabad Road, Bhopal (MP)
2. Shri V.R. Goswami
T.H X 74, Adipur (Kutch),
Gujarat-370205