In general anticipation of atleast a consolation relief, scores of Society members and related activists have been consistently yearning for the Coop. Societies to come within the ambit of the Right to Information Act. CONTRARY to the increasing yearning!!!! : 01.   Direct application of “Right to Information Act”,   CAN-NEVER-EVER be applicable to Non-Aided Coop. Societies [...]

The expression, economic interest, thus takes within its sweep matters which operate at a macro level and not at an individual, i.e., micro level. In my view, by no stretch of imagination can scrutiny guidelines impact economic interest of the country. These guidelines are issued to prevent harassment to assessees generally. 

The Supreme Court has ruled that the details of a person’s income tax returns and performance of an employee are personal information which cannot be divulged under the provisions of the Right to Information Act unless a larger public interest is involved.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Reserve Bank of India to disclose an advisory note it issued to ICICI Bank for alleged violation of any RBI guidelines or for contravention of the provisions of money laundering and foreign exchange acts. The case relates to an RTI application filed by SS Vohra, who had sought to know details of such advisory notes issued by the apex bank to Patna and Hong Kong branches of ICICI Bank.

Government has vide notification No. G.S.R. 442(E) dated 09.06.2011 exempted CBI from thr purview of RTI Act, 2005. This has been done by inserting the CBI Name in Second Schedule of the RTI Act. The Second Schedule of the RTI Act exempts certain Public Authorities under the Central Government from disclosure of information under the RTI Act 2005. However, these Public Authorities have to respond to RTI Applications which pertain to subjects of Human Rights and Corruption. As per Section 5(1) of the RTI Act and the instructions of DoPT, they are also supposed to have a PIO and a AA.

The Income Tax Department has now decided to provide full details of tax returns of political parties under the RTI Act after the Central Information Commission (CIC) issued it directives in this regard. The department, according to sources, used to restrict such information, citing section 138 of the Income Tax Act, which allowed denial of such information under RTI Act as ‘disclosure of information respecting assessees.’

Against the backdrop of agitations demanding more openness and accountability in government functioning, defence minister AK Antony on Wednesday said the country is going through a ‘transparency revolution’ which can’t be stopped ‘midway’. ‘Country is passing through a new era revolution — the transparency revolution. The walls of secrecy are crumbling in every field gradually including politics, business, administration and judiciary. Once the trend has started, you can’t stop it midway,’ he said.

The Income Tax returns of individuals do not enjoy “absolute ban” from disclosure, the Central Information Commission has held while directing the Income Tax department to provide details of the total income of a person to his son-in-law who is facing a dowry case.

The department filed an appeal in the High Court and claimed that as the Tribunal’s order was received on a particular date, the appeal was on time. However, the assessee obtained information from the Tribunal under the Right to Information Act and pointed out that the order was served on an earlier date and that the appeal was belated. HELD taking a serious view of the matter and summoning the Revenue Secretary and Chairman CBDT.

Sixty-three years after Independence, Calcutta High Court, or at least its Public Information Officer (PIO), apparently feels that it is not under the control of the President of India or the government of India, since it has been set up under Letter