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Personal Information Exemption Not Available To Corporate Entity Under RTI

In Second Appeal No.:- CIC/CCITM/A/2017/182415-BJ, Mr. Subramanian K Ansari vs CPIO, Dy. Commissioner of Income Tax, the applicant Subramanian K Ansari had sought information from the Income Tax Department about the balance sheets and profit and loss accounts of last 10 years of the Cambata Aviation Ltd, which had ceased operations in 2016.

The applicant alleged that M/s Cambata Aviation Pvt. Ltd had deprived salary/wages to more than 2100 employees since March, 2016 on the pretext of bad condition of finance and loss in the business resulting in extreme financial hardships to him and hundreds of other employees. He further alleged that the said Company was also willfully defaulting in payment of statutory dues of PF/ST/LIC/ESIC and Credit Society, etc. Despite citing financial difficulties, the company had recruited more than 800 employees in 2014 and 2015, and in this backdrop the employee wanted to know the truth of its claims.

The Public Information Officer denied disclosure citing Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, which exempts disclosure of personal information. The First Appellate Authority concurred with this view.

In second appeal, the CIC held that the exemption of 'personal information' under Section 8(1)(j) was not applicable to corporate entities.

The Central Information Commission however held that the expression "personal information" as used in clause (j) of Section 8(1) of the Act has to be read in the context of information relating to an individual and that the ordinary usage of the word "personal" is in the context of an individual human being and not a corporate entity and that an employee is entitled to know under Right To Information Act 2005 about the financial status of the employer-company which has been defaulting in payment of salaries the disclosure of information in larger public interest.


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