Case Law Details
CBDT Vs. Satya Narain Shukla (Delhi High Court)
A plain reading of Section 24(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 indicates that the provisions of the Act would not be applicable to Intelligence and Security Organizations as specified in the Second Schedule. Further, any information received from such organizations falls under the exclusionary clause of Section 24(1) of the Act. CBDT is not one of the offices, public organizations which are specified under the Second Schedule; but, the Directorate General of Income Tax (Investigation) is. Thus, any information received from the Directorate General of Income Tax (Investigation) by any Public Authority would also fall within the exclusionary provisions of Section 24(1) of the Act. Indisputably, the information sought for by the respondent emanates from the Directorate General of Income Tax (Investigations) (various DGs who have called upon to submit a comprehensive report of verification). Thus, CBDT would be justified in denying such information to the respondent.
It was also contended by the respondent that since the information sought for by him related to allegations of corruption, the same falls within the exception to the exclusionary clause of Section 24(1) of the Act. The respondent is correct that by virtue of the first proviso to Section 24(1) of the Act, all information pertaining to allegations of corruption and human rights violations falls within the exception to Section 24(1) of the Act. In other words, notwithstanding that such information emanates from any of the organizations as specified under the Second Schedule of the Act, it is not excluded from the purview of the Act.
FULL TEXT OF THE ITAT ORDER IS AS FOLLOWS:-
1. The petitioner (hereafter ‘CBDT‘) impugns an order dated 29.05.2017 (hereafter ‘the impugned order‘) passed by the Central Information Commission (hereafter „the CIC‟) in a second appeal preferred by the respondent under Section 19(3) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (hereafter „the Act‟).
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