Raja refuses to disclose IT information under RTI

Former union telecom minister A Raja, has refused to allow any disclosure of his tax returns by the IT department, under the Right To Information (RTI) Act.

Raja is currently in custody at Tihar jail for his alleged role in the spectrum scam.
 
Following his objection, the IT department has set aside an RTI application filed by activist V Gopalakrishnan seeking copies of his income-tax returns of Raja for 10 years from 2000-01 to 2010-11.
 
The public information officer (PIO) acting on the application sent a letter to Raja on 5 April, calling for his objections in providing the applicant with the copy of his income-tax returns.

Responding to the communication, Raja's tax consultant S Muthukumarasamy replied, "The personal details of income-tax returns and other details are exempted from disclosure under section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. The details called for are not eligible to be issued under the RTI Act." Muthukumarasamy also quoted two of the Central Information Commission (CIC) decisions dated July 2006 and February 2007 in support of his objection.

According to Gopalakrishnan who cited a 2009 decision of the CIC, the income tax returns should be disclosed under the Act. The PIO in his response said there was no public interest involved in the disclosure.

The PIO said that he was not satisfied that the larger public interest justified the disclosure of the information sought for by the applicant. Acccordingly, he declined to furnish the information.

Information about a third party cannot be provided under the Right to Information without the prior permission of the person involved.