Is disclosure of I-T returns under RTI Act an invasion of privacy?

Is disclosure of I-T returns under RTI Act an invasion of privacy?
Jeeva | TNN 14 march 2011 chennai edition pageno.2

Chennai: Are the income tax returns of a person liable to be disclosed to applicants under the Right To Information (RTI) Act?
While the income tax department says there is no need for such disclosure, the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) has actually furnished to an RTI applicant the copies of I-T returns filed by some of the allottees of its plots and flats. In January, V Gopalakrishnan, an activist, filed an RTI application with the I-T department seeking copies of I-T returns, from 2006 to 2010, of 19 allottees of TNHB plots and flats, including a former Madras high court judge, under the “quota for eminent persons and social workers” category. In 12 cases, the I-T department refused to furnish the copies of the returns citing objections by the allottees as a reason.
It also said, “There is no public interest involved in the RTI query, I-T returns were personal in nature and that it held them under a fiduciary relationship.” Also, disclosure of I-T returns were exempted under the RTI Act and also as per a ruling of the central information commission in June 2009, the department replied.
Gopalakrishnan now plans to challenge the rejection of his RTI request saying the TNHB had furnished I-T returns, as part of other documents, of two of the allottees for 2009-10 and 2006-07 respectively in response to his RTI applications filed last year.
“When one public authority can furnish a statement as sought under the RTI Act, how can an another authority deny it?’’ he said. According to him, the CIC’s December 2009 ruling clearly answered all the three claims of the I-T department.
“The department cannot claim to have a fiduciary relationship with the assesses since they don’t file the returns for personal interest or benefit but as a statutory obligation. Also, the RTI query cannot be rejected merely on assumptions as in many cases the department got information about tax evasion from the public,’’ Gopalakrishnan said.
“When the assessees cannot argue that the requirement to file returns is an invasion of their privacy, disclosing this to an applicant under the RTI Act cannot be treated otherwise,’’ Gopalakrishnan added.