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The Bombay High Court Thursday dismissed a petition filed by former Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi seeking copies of income tax (I-T) returns of former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Justice R M Savant said: “The petitioner wants to proceed on the hypothesis that the information sought by him cannot be denied to Parliament. In so far as Parliament is concerned, it has its own rules of business and it therefore cannot be presumed that the information in respect of I-T returns of a member of Legislature would be sought.” The same would be in the discretion of the Speaker, the court said.
Gandhi had sought information about Pawar, who is the nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, from the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of income tax department on November 21, 2012. However, the piece of information was denied on the ground that it was related to a third party.
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In accordance with Section 11 of RTI Act, a letter was issued to Ajit by the income tax authorities seeking his views on the issue. In reply, he opposed the disclosure of any information.
The CPIO told Gandhi that the information sought by him had no relationship to any public activity or interest and, therefore, it could not be supplied under provisions of Section 8(1)(j) of Right to Information Act.
Gandhi’s appeal before the appellate authority was rejected on the same grounds as the CPIO. The Central Information Commission, New Delhi, also rejected Gandhi’s appeal saying he had not been able to prove any larger public interest with corroborative evidence.
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