Man says estranged wife lied in court while seeking maintenance cost 

The Central Information Commission has directed the Income Tax department to share the income details of a woman with her ex-husband who alleged that she had lied in a court while seeking maintenance cost after divorce.

The case pertains to an appeal moved before the CIC by Ramesh (name changed) of Karaikudi in Sivaganga district challenging the denial of information by the Income Tax Department. He had petitioned under the Right to Information Act, 2005, requesting the PAN, Aadhaar and income details of his estranged wife. He wanted to present the information in a family court where his estranged wife had demanding maintenance cost by claiming that she had no Permanent Account Number and never filed Income Tax returns.

Mr. Ramesh said his wife was working in a corporate firm and had regular income. He sought the advance tax paid by her company in her account and also the monthlyu salary details to prove in the court that she had made a false claim. However, the Chief Public Information Officer said the information called for was exempted from disclosure under the provisions of Section 8(1)(e) of RTI Act as the returns of income filed was held in fiduciary capacity by the department.

Further, the CPIO said that the application asking for information was rejected as it pertained to personal information, the disclosure of which had no relationship to any public activity or Interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual under Section 8(1)(j) of the Act.

He referred to an affidavit filed by the representative of a banking institution in the court which proved that his estranged wife had equity shared worth Rs. 52 lakh. Submitting court documents, the petitioner requested the income tax returns filed by her for three financial years commencing 2021-22. The In come Tax department maintained its stand that the information called for was exempted from disclosure.

After hearing both parties, Information Commissioner Vinod Kumar Tiwari directed the CPIO to share the “generic details of the net taxable income/gross income” of the estranged wife for the period as mentioned in the RTI application with the appellant after ascertaining the claim of a pending maintenance case before the court. The commission relied on various court orders in similar cases.