के (cid:3)ीय सूचना आयोग Central Information Commission बाबा गंगनाथ माग(cid:18), मुिनरका

Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka नई िद(cid:24)ी, New Delhi – 110067 File No: CIC/CCITM/A/2024/615818 Souma Ghosh .….अपीलकता(cid:18)/Appellant VERSUS बनाम PIO, Income Tax Officer - 28(3)(1), 3rd Floor, Tower No. 6, Vashi Railway Station Complex, Vashi, Navi Mumbai – 400703 ….(cid:29)ितवादीगण /Respondent Date of Hearing : 18.09.2025 Date of Decision : 25.09.2025 INFORMATION COMMISSIONER : Vinod Kumar Tiwari Relevant facts emerging from appeal:

RTI application filed on : 13.02.2024 CPIO replied on : 10.04.2024 First appeal filed on : 19.03.2024 First Appellate Authority’s order : 22.03.2024 2nd Appeal/Complaint dated : 18.04.2024 Information sought:

1. The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 13.02.2024 (online) seeking the following information:

“Information Requested: Under the RTI ACT, information is hereby being requested about the gross income filed by my husband, Sourish Ghosh, PAN No.: AIKPG5621M, S/o Tulsiprasad Ghosh, for the financial years

2021/22 and 2022/23.

Other relevant details: Sourish Ghosh presently is working as Sr. Manager Sales, Europe, Usage based Services at Mumbai & his employer being Tata Communications Ltd. having its registered office at VSB, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Fort, Mumbai:400001. His Kolkata residential address is A2 Green Park, P. Majumdar Road, Kolkata:700078. I was married to Sourish Ghosh on 27th. November, 2004 at Kolkata under Special Marriage Act, 1954, our boy child was born on 24th. August, 2005 and I am a housewife. Since the age of about five months of our said child, Sourish leaving me and our said child at my parental home subsequently went out of station without any information to me and since then me and our said child have been staying at my parental home. I have been taking care of our child as a single parent and he has been throughout a rank holder in his school alongwith many extra curricular achievements & he is now studying BTECH(ECE) in one of the NIRF top ranked Engineering Institute of India. In 2012/2013, Sourish filed a Divorce Petition and also filed a petition for custody of our child and both were filed at Alipore Civil Court under South 24 Parganas judicial district.. The petitions are presently numbered as 1 of 2013 and 25 of 2013 respectively and both the said petitions are sub judice. Presently, I am entitled for an alimony pendente lite amounting to Rs.14000 per month which my husband has defaulted on a regular basis. Tata Communications by its letter dated 20.11.23. addressed to me expressed their inability to provide me the pertinent salary details on ground of confidentiality.”

2. The CPIO furnished a reply to the Appellant on 10.04.2024 stating as under:

“Section 3 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act"), spells out the right of a citizen of India to seek and get Information from the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) & State Public Information Officer (SPIO). Sec 7(1) of the Act lays down that, on receipt of a request from an applicant, information shall be provided by the CPIO & SPIO. So, in effect, a citizen, who is an applicant, is entitled to information.

Sec 2 of the Act lays down the definition of the term "Information".

As per Sec 2, "Information" is defined:-

"to mean any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, emails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force".

On perusal of the extant application vis-a-vis with the provisions of the Act, it is seen that the details sought by the applicant is related to the third party, i.c. Shri Sourish Ghosh (PAN: AIKPG5621M). Therefore, as per the provisions of the Act, the consent/reply of third party u/s 11(1) of the RTI Act, wa