In a test case for the Right to Information Act an appeal seeking the income tax returns filed by Applause Bhansali Films has been rejected by the income tax authorities.
MUMBAI: In what is being seen as a test case for the Right to Information Act, which became a national enactment from October 12, an appeal seeking the income tax returns filed by Applause Bhansali Films—the makers of the film, Black—has been rejected by the income tax authorities.
Farida Hoosenally, an antique dealer, had previously applied for a copy of the returns to a junior income tax officer who rejected her application after seeking the company’s views.
The new Act makes it mandatory for the third party to be consulted before disclosing information about it. The public information officer may choose to ignore the opinion of the third party but the Act makes it mandatory for the latter to be informed.
In her appeal to the chief commissioner of income tax (CCIT-IX), Hoosenally has claimed she had supplied antique furniture valued at Rs4.5 crore to Bhansali’s company on rent for the shooting of the film. During the shooting, the sets caught fire, gutting goods worth Rs2.5 crore, but when she sought compensation, the company allegedly paid her only Rs20 lakh.
On December 30, CCIT-IX, V Tulsyan rejected the appeal on the grounds that the returns filed by an assessee is “information submitted in commercial confidence.’’ It contains “trade secrets and intellectual property,’’ disclosure of which could harm the competitive position of the assessee, the order reads.
Contending that the returns are “personal information,’’ the senior income tax officer said in his order that only the assessee can waive that confidentiality and clearly, Bhansali’s company has chosen not to. Deciding to appeal against this order as well, Hoosenally’s counsel YP Singh says, “This order clearly brings out the greatest weakness in the Right to Information Act—those who will be adversely affected by an order themselves will decide whether to give the information or not.’’
In her appeal, Hoosenally had alleged that the disclosure of Applause Bhansali Film’s income tax returns would be in public interest as it had committed some grave violations of the law during the making of the film. She cited the use of LPG cylinders, which are subsidised by the government by Rs 100 each, violating the Essential Commodities Act.
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