Delhi HC sets aside CIC's order to provide RTI information of tax exemption to PM Cares fund

The Delhi High Court on Monday set aside the Central Information Commission's (CIC's) direction to the Income Tax Department to provide RTI information and copies related to income tax exemption allowed to the PM Cares Fund.

The Delhi High Court on Monday set aside the Central Information Commission's (CIC's) direction to the Income Tax Department to provide RTI information and copies related to income tax exemption allowed to the PM Cares Fund. The High Court passed a judgement allowing the Income Tax Department to appeal against the order of CIC.

Justice Subramonium Prasad said that the CIC does not have the jurisdiction to direct furnishing of information, provided in Section 138 of the IT Act. "In any case, even if they had the jurisdiction, the failure to give PM CARES, a notice of hearing, would in itself have vitiated the impugned," Justice Prasad said in the judgement.

The bench observed, "The information, as sought for by the respondent herein, has been sought from the CPIO of the Income Tax Department and not from the PM CARES Fund. The Petitioner herein does not treat PM CARES Fund as an authority. Since the information sought for by the respondent relates to a third party, PM CARES Fund ought to have been heard." The court noted that in the present case, the question which arose was whether Section 138(2) of the IT Act which also contains a non-obstante clause would override Section 22 of the RTI Act or not.

The high court held, "In view of the fact that Section 138(1)(b) of the IT Act mandates that information relating to an assessee can only be supplied subject to the satisfaction ofPrincipal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner, as the case may be, it can be said that Section 138(2) of the IT Act would prevail over Section 22 of the RTI Act." The high court was dealing with a petition filed by the CPIO/Dy. Commissioner of Income Tax challenging the Order of 27.04.2022, passed by the Central Information Commission (CIC), directing the CPIO to provide the copies of all the documents submitted in the exemption application and copies of the file notings granting the approval relating to PM CARES Fund under the Right to Information (RTI) application filed by the Respondent Girish Mittal.

Advocate Zoheb Hossain, special counsel for the IT Department, submitted that the information sought by the Petitioner would be hit by Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act as the same relates to the disclosure of personal information. It was further stated that the CIC has not ruled or adjudicated on the question as to what is the public interest involved in the case which would outweigh the protected interest and without adjudicating the said issue, the CIC could not have directed the Petitioner to give the information sought for, more so when the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), the DCIT (Exemption) and the Appellate Authority have rejected the application of the respondent on the ground that the information sought is personal in nature.

On the other hand, counsel for respondent Mittal contended that there is an overwhelming public interest in directing the authority to supply the information sought for. He stated that the PM CARES Fund has been created to serve the public. The PM CARES Fund is a charitable fund which has been established to provide relief to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic or any similar emergencies.

He also contended that the Income Tax Department approved the applications given by the PM CARES Fund for the grant of exemption on Income Tax under Section 80G of the IT Act on 27.03.2020. He argued that the respondent wants to know the exact procedure followed by the Income Tax Department in granting such a swift approval and to see whether any rules or procedures were bypassed by the Income Tax Department in granting such approvals. He further states that the information sought by the respondent does not include any personal information. (ANI)

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