Central Information CommissionDr.Sandeep Kumar Gupta vs Cbdt on 20 August, 2013CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
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                           File No.CIC/RM/A/2013/000106


Appellant:                                     Dr. Sandeep Kumar Gupta, Hisar



Public Authority:                              ACIT, Central Circle, Bikaner and JCIT,
                                               Central Range, Jodhpur.
Date of Hearing:                               19.08.2013



Date of decision:                              20.08.2013



Heard today, dated 19.08.2013 through video conferencing.

Appellant is present along with Shri Sarbajit Roy.

The Public Authority is represented by Shri Lalit P. Jain, JCIT, Central Range,
Jodhpur.

FACTSVide RTI dt 29.8.12, appellant had sought the following information in respect
of JR Tantia Charitable Trust, Ganganagar:i) Copies of IT Returns for last 5 years along with full set of financial statements;ii)       Certified copy of request with enclosures made by the Society for
       granting tax exemption benefits;iii)      Quantum of tax benefits enjoyed by the Society u/s 10, 11 or 12A of the
       IT Act; andiv)       Quantum of tax exemptionu/s 80Gof the IT Act to donors.2.      CPIO vide letter dt 28.9.12, informed appellant that the said trust has not been
granted registrationu/s 80Gof the IT Act and hence no such information is available.
As regards other information sought, CPIO submitted that the Director General of IT
Investigation, has been exempted from the provisions of theRTI Actand as this
office comes under the control of DGIT (Inv), information sought cannot be provided.3.     An appeal was filed on 5.10.12.4.     AA vide order dt 16.11.12, upheld the decision of the CPIO.15.     Submissions made by the appellant and public authority were heard.
Appellant submitted that they are withdrawing point no.4 of the RTI query and in
respect of query no.3, quoted two CIC decisions (CIC/LS/A/2009/00190 dt 9.3.10
and CIC/AT/A/2008/00523 dt 11.2.09) in support of his submissions. In support of
their contention of larger public interest, it was submitted that the Society is running
Veterinary College without approval of the Veterinary Council of India. The appellant
also questioned denial of information on the ground that they come under the
administrative control of the office of DGIT(Inv).DECISION6.     The Commission does not agree with the contention of the CPIO/AA that they
are an exempt organization for the purposes ofRTI Act. It is only the subordinate
offices of DGIT(Inv) which can claim exemptionu/s 24of the RTI Act.7.     Insofar as the appellant's submission relating to the CIC decision dated 9.3.10
is concerned, we find that this decision had only permitted disclosure of names and
address of charitable institutions/entities which have been granted exemptionsu/s
10,11,12of the IT Act where as the appellant is seeking details of quantum of tax
benefits enjoyed by the Society. As such the ratio of the above case does not apply
to the present appeal.8.     The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Girish Ramchandra Deshpande
has held that IT Returns and related financial statements are personal information
and are exempt from disclosureu/s 8(1)(j)of the RTI Act, unless a larger public
interest is established. In the instant case, the appellant has not been able to
establish any larger public interest, hence information sought is denied.The appeal is disposed of.Sd/-(Rajiv Mathur)
                                                   Central Information Commissioner



Authenticated true copy forwarded to:The Asstt.CIT & CPIO
      O/o the Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax
      Central Circle, Aayakar Bhawan, Rani Bazar,
      Bikaner (Rajasthan)

      The Jt. CIT & First Appellate Authority
      O/o the Joint Commissioner of Income Tax2Central Range, Room No.35,
Aayakar Bhawan, Paota'C'Patna, jodhpur

Dr. Sandeep Kumar Gupta
1778, Sector 14,
Hisar, Haryana.(Raghubir Singh)
                                         Deputy Registrar
                                                .08.20133