High Court of Karnataka Reserves Judgment in Writ Petition Against CIC Order Directing Disclosure of Husband's Income Tax Returns Under RTI Act. Petitioner Contended That Information Is Exempt Under Section 8(1)(e) of Right to Information Act, 2005, Being Held in Fiduciary Capacity by Income Tax Department.

Writ petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India challenging order of Central Information Commission directing disclosure under Right to Information Act, 2005.

Quashing of CIC order dated 12.04.2019 bearing File No. CIC/CCITB/A/2017/180340-BJ.

Petitioner, CPIO, contends that the information sought is exempt under the RTI Act as it is third-party information held in a fiduciary capacity, and the CIC order directing disclosure is contrary to law.

CPIO order dated 31.08.2017 rejecting the RTI application; First Appellate Authority order dated 23.09.2017 dismissing the appeal; CIC order dated 12.04.2019 allowing the second appeal and directing disclosure.

Whether the information sought is exempt from disclosure under Section 8(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, being third-party information held in a fiduciary capacity? Whether the Central Information Commission's order directing disclosure is legally sustainable?

Petitioner argues that income tax returns are furnished in confidence and held in a fiduciary capacity by the department, thus exempt under Section 8(1)(e) of RTI Act. Disclosure would breach trust and no larger public interest is shown. Relies on Bombay High Court decision in Adarsh v. State of Maharashtra discussing Sections 8 and 11 of RTI Act and Section 158 of GST Act.

10. This Court has dealt with the issue of applicability of Section 8 and 11 of the RTI Act by analysing the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Central Public Information Officer, Supreme Court of India V/s. Subhash Chandra Agarwal (supra) and the Court has explained that the RTI Act operationalise the disclosure of information held by public authorities to reduce the asymmetry of information between individual citizens and the State apparatus. However, the Constitution Bench has observed that enacting the RTI Act the Parliament was cognizant that an unrestricted disclosure of information could be fiscally inefficient, result and would do real-world harms and infringe the rights of others. Thus, the Constitution Bench while quoting the provisions of Section 8 of the RTI Act explained the non-obstante phrase carved exceptions under Section 8 to the general obligation to disclose information under the RTI Act. Therefore, where the conditions set out in any of the sub-clauses of Clause (1) of Section 8 are satisfied, Information Officers are under no obligation to provide information of any applicant. Clause (d) of Section 8 (1) provides that information is exempt from disclosure where such disclosure would harm the competitive position of a third party and the exemption is further qualified by the phrase, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure. Thus, the exemption under clause (d) of Section 8(1) is not absolute but is qualified and cannot be invoked where a larger public interest exists. In the context of clause J of Section 8 (1) explanation provides a qualified exemption from disclosure where the information relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to public activity or interest and the information would cause an unwarranted invasion of the privacy. However, the exemption may be overridden where the Information Officer is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure. Thus, clause (j) of Section 8 is not an absolute exemption from the disclosure of information on the ground of privacy and the disclosure is exempted where personal information is sought and there is no larger public interest. Thus under Section 8 (1) (j) an information which has relevance to privacy and relates to personal information can be denied. If such an information relates to a third party then Section 2 (n) of the RTI Act defines third party to mean a person other than a citizen requesting information and includes a public authority. Section 11 is concerned with third party information. Third party information is an information which relates or has been supplied by any other person other than the information applicant and has been treated as confidential by third party. Wherever the disclosure of third party is sought and such information has been prima facie treated as confidential by the third party in question, the procedure under Section 11 of the RTI Act is mandatory. The provision expressly mandates the Information Officer to consider the objections of third party while deciding whether to disclose or not disclose the information. In the instant case the information which is sought relates to the third party and the GST Authorities holds the Information i.e. GST returns of the third party. When such an information is asked the Authorities constituted has to issue under Section 11 to the effected person as this provision is held to be mandatory. As such, the first objection of the Petitioner that no notice ought to have been given to the Industries whose GST returns were asked by applicant is rejected. 11. The next issue is whether Section 158 of the GST Act would also be an impediment in providing information under the RTI Act. Section 158 (1) of the GST Act provides that the Information of the GST cannot be provided to third parties. For ready reference, Section 158 of GST Act is as below: "Section 158. Disclosure of Information by a public servant.- ..."

Respondent No.1 filed RTI application on 07.08.2017 seeking husband's ITR details for AY 2012-2017. CPIO rejected application on 31.08.2017 under Section 8(1)(e) RTI Act. First Appellate Authority dismissed appeal on 23.09.2017. Second appeal before CIC allowed on 12.04.2019, directing disclosure. Petitioner filed writ petition challenging CIC order. High Court heard arguments and reserved judgment on 10.12.2025. Order pronounced on 21.02.2026, but final operative part not included in the available excerpt.

• Right to Information Act, 2005: Section 2(n), Section 8(1)(e), Section 8(1)(j), Section 11
• Constitution of India: Article 226, Article 227
• Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017: Section 158