Bombay High Court reserves order on plea seeking Ajit Pawar's I-T returns

The Bombay high court on Wednesday reserved its order on an appeal filed by former chief information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, seeking income tax returns of NCP leader Ajit Pawar.

"You cannot just use the word public interest, it has to be shown that larger public interest is made out which overrides the privacy of the individual," observed justice RM Sawant, who is likely to pass an order in due course of time.

Gandhi had sought Pawar's I-T returns in 2009. He was, however, denied information by the income tax department, with the public information officer invoking the third party clause.

The former commissioner then filed a first appeal, which upheld the decision of the public information officer. At the stage of the second appeal, the information commission, in a five-member bench order, ruled that the information was "personal" in nature, and denied providing it as per section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act. The commission also cited a Supreme Court order for the same.

In his petition, Gandhi has challenged the order, saying the commission did not apply its mind and that it overlooked the fact that under section 8 (1) (j) information that can be shared with Parliament or state legislature cannot be denied under the particular section.

He added that the income tax department does not verify the I-T returns with that of the assets and liabilities filed by the elected representatives in their earlier affidavits. It has been argued by him that income tax is a public office and documents filed in it are public documents and should be accessed under the RTI Act.

However, Pawar has, citing privacy and exception made in the RTI section, opposed the petition on the ground that individual documents cannot be shared.