The Central Information Commission (CIC) recently directed the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to take necessary measures to educate the departmental officials to equip them to discharge their Duties under Right to Information Act, 2005.

Complainant, through an application, sought for details regarding the total number of Wealth Tax Returns filed during the period from 01.04.2011 to 31.03.2015 and the number of assesses liable to file the Wealth Tax Returns for the above mentioned period. CPO rejected the application by stating that the opinions/imaginations/ or hypothetical question formed against the department could not be deemed to be held by the public Authority under Section 2(j) of the RTI Act, 2005. The appeal against the action of the CPO was later confirmed by the first appellate authority.

On second appeal, the CIC noted the observation made by the Commission that the FAA while responding to the RTI First Appeal incorrectly applied Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act, 2005 on the queries raised by the Complainant in his RTI application on the ground that no larger public interest was being served in the disclosure of information. In this regard, the Central Information Commissioner, Shri. Bimal Julka observed that “while claiming exemption under Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act, 2005, the preliminary requirement was to ascertain whether the information sought was personal in nature and the need to determine, if any larger public interest was involved in the matter. If the data was not maintained by the Respondent, the same could have been conveyed categorically rather than commenting on the personal conduct of the Complainant.”

The CIC, however, rejected the plea of the petitioner to impose penalty under section 20 of the RTI Act on the CPO. Citing a catena of judicial decisions, the CIC observed that the Complainant was unable to substantiate his claims further regarding malafide denial of information by the respondent or for withholding it without any reasonable cause.

While dismissing the appeal, it further directed the Board to convene periodic conferences/seminars to sensitize, familiarize and educate the concerned officials about the relevant provisions of the RTI Act, 2005 for effective discharge of its duties and responsibilities.

Read the full text of the Order below.