Official assets statement not confidential, rules tribunal

The case in question pertains to a plea filed by the convener of the All India Dalit Forum. He was appealing the rejection of his request to the Karnataka Labour Department’s Public Information Officer (PIO) for a copy of the Service Register extract, giving the details of assets owned by a Joint Director of the Directorate of Employment and Training. The information asked for covered the period between April 1,1996 to March 31,2005.

Both the Central and state governments have a rule which stipulates that public servants should submit an annual declaration in which the details of moveable and immovable properties are provided. A threshold limit is prescribed for the value of properties held.

The PIO rejected the request stating that the service register of the official concerned was not available with the PIO but with the Accountant General. The copy of the assets and liabilities statement was also refused quoting Section 8 (1) of the RTIA. The PIO argued that the document sought for, if given, would be an invasion of privacy of the officer concerned and hence the request could not be granted.

In the appeal the Forum filed with the Appellate Authority, the Forum argued that the RTIA clearly stated that any information which cannot be denied to Parliament or the State Legislature shall not be denied to any person making a request under the RTIA.

Some public servants are able to acquire assets and properties beyond their known source of income. With the upholding of the Forum’s plea, the public has now been provided a new tool to fight corruption.