Case Law Details
Raju Sebastian Vs Union of India (Kerala High Court)
Conclusion: Demanding details pertaining to the bank account of a person and of remittances made to the Income Tax Department towards discharge of tax liability shall amount to infringement of Right to Privacy, therefore, assessee was not bound to furnish their income tax returns and the bank account statements, as a condition for continuing the petroleum retail dealership granted to them.
Held: Assessee-person conduct petroleum retail outlets on the basis of the dealership agreements executed by them with the oil marketing companies by name BPCL, IOCL and HPCL. Assessee alleged that, as per Ext.P2 circular, the oil marketing companies mentioned above demanded them to furnish the sales tax returns, bank account statements and income tax returns pertaining to their dealership and threatened that, on failure to furnish the above information, the supply of petroleum products to them would be discontinued. Assessee contended that they were not bound to furnish the above information to the oil marketing companies and that compelling them to furnish the above information infringed their right to privacy which was a fundamental right. It was held that details of the bank account of a person constituted personal and private information. Habits of a person, his life style, his association with other persons and many other personal matters could be deduced from a close scrutiny of his bank account for some period. Therefore, it could be said that details of the bank account of a person constitute personal information and that any demand made to disclose such information amounted to infringement of his right to privacy. The Court hence held that a demand of bank details of a person should amount to infringement of his Right to Privacy. Further, it held that the respondents had got no right to require assessee to furnish their income tax returns and the bank account statements, as a condition for continuing the petroleum retail dealership granted to them.
FULL TEXT OF THE HIGH COURT ORDER /JUDGEMENT
The appellants are the petitioners in the writ petitions, W.P. (C) No.12202 of 2018 and W.P.(C) No.13363 of 2018. They assail the judgment of the learned Single Judge in the above writ petitions.
Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.
