NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Income Tax Department to disclose the details of the gross income of a man to his estranged wife, holding that such information cannot be denied in a matrimonial dispute on privacy grounds. Information Commissioner Vinod Kumar Tiwari passed the order on an application file by the estranged wife, who had sought the income details of her husband for the last five assessment years for the purpose of the maintenance proceedings before a court. She alleged that her estranged husband was “concealing his actual earnings to evade maintenance liability”.
The commission said that upon verification of marital status and pendency of a matrimonial or maintenance case, the IT department shall provide the information sought in the application. It, however, clarified that the details of the income tax returns and other personal information of third parties need not be disclosed.
The application was filed before the CEC after the Income Tax Department rejected the Right to Information request, citing it was the third-party personal information, protected under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act exempts personal information from disclosure if it has no relationship to public activity/ interest or causes an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
In its order, the commission said that information relating to income does not remain purely personal when sought by a legally wedded spouse for maintenance litigation and directed the appellant to submit documents establishing her marital relationship and the pendency of the case before a competent court.