Can personal tax records be accessed through RTI during a maintenance dispute? The Karnataka High Court says no — privacy cannot be bypassed without proven larger public interest. The ruling clarifies that matrimonial battles cannot convert confidential financial data into public documents.
BENGALURU: In a notable ruling, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Suraj Govindaraj of the Karnataka High Court, Bengaluru, dealt with a real-life matrimonial disputes that moved beyond the family court and entered the domain of information law. The controversy began when a wife filed an RTI application seeking copies of his income tax returns, tax details and related financial information from the Income Tax Department.
The department rejected the request, treating the information as confidential third-party data held in a fiduciary capacity and invoking exemptions under Section 8(1)(e) and Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. The first appellate authority upheld this decision. However, the Central Information Commission later allowed the wife’s appeal and directed disclosure, prompting the Income Tax Officer and CPIO to approach the High Court challenging that direction.
While examining the dispute, the Court referred to settled legal principles on privacy and RTI and reproduced the observation:
“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.”
The Court also noted the broader constitutional perspective highlighted by the Supreme Court: “The right to information and the need for transparency in the case of elected officials is grounded in the democratic need to facilitate better decision-making by the public.”
Further reliance was placed on the clear position in Girish Ramchandra Deshpande, where it was held:
“The details disclosed by a person in his income tax returns are personal information which stand exempted from disclosure under clause (i) of Section 8(1) of the RTI Act, unless involves a larger public interest and the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the Appellate Authority is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information.”
On the other side, the wife maintained that her RTI request was not for curiosity but necessity. She argued that courts had reduced her maintenance claim because she could not produce reliable proof of her husband’s income, and that official tax records were the only effective evidence available to establish his true financial capacity.
After analysing the statutory framework and binding precedents, the High Court held that income tax returns are personal information and are protected under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. The Court found that the dispute between the spouses was essentially private in nature and did not involve any larger public interest that would justify overriding the exemption. It also noted that the Income-tax Act contains its own specific mechanism regarding disclosure of assessee information.
The Karnataka High Court allowed the writ petition and set aside the order of the Central Information Commission directing disclosure. The Court concluded that the wife could not access her husband’s income tax returns through the RTI route in the absence of a demonstrated larger public interest, thereby reaffirming the protection of personal financial information under the RTI Act.
Explanatory Table: Laws & Provisions Involved
| Law / Provision | Purpose | How Applied In This Case |
| Constitution of India – Articles 226 & 227 | Confer writ jurisdiction on High Courts | Used by the Income Tax Officer to challenge the Central Information Commission’s disclosure order before the Karnataka High Court |
| Right to Information Act, 2005 – Section 8(1)(e) | Exempts information held in fiduciary relationship from disclosure | Income Tax Department argued that tax returns are submitted in trust and therefore cannot be disclosed to third parties |
| Right to Information Act, 2005 – Section 8(1)(j) | Protects personal information unless larger public interest exists | Core provision relied upon to deny disclosure of husband’s income tax returns as personal financial data |
| Right to Information Act, 2005 – Section 11 | Prescribes procedure for disclosure of third-party information | Husband was treated as third party; notice issued before deciding disclosure |
| Right to Information Act, 2005 – Section 2(n) | Defines “third party” under RTI | Applied to classify husband as third party whose financial information was sought |
| Income-tax Act, 1961 – Section 138 | Regulates disclosure of assessee information by tax authorities | Court noted existence of special statutory framework governing confidentiality of income tax data |
| Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 – Section 12(1) | Provides remedy including maintenance for aggrieved wife | Wife sought income tax returns to establish husband’s income in maintenance proceedings |
| Supreme Court precedent – Girish Ramchandra Deshpande | Declares income tax returns as personal information | Relied upon to reinforce privacy protection under RTI |
| Supreme Court precedent – Subhash Chandra Agarwal | Balances right to information with right to privacy | Used to highlight constitutional privacy considerations in RTI matters |
Case Details
- Case Title: Income Tax Officer and CPIO, Income Tax Department v. Smt. Gulsanober Bano Zafar Ali Ansari & Anr.
- Case Number: Writ Petition No. 34625 of 2019
- Court: High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru
- Bench: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Suraj Govindaraj
- Date of Decision: 21 February 2026
- Neutral Citation: 2026:KHC:11056
- Counsels
- For Petitioner: Sri M. Dilip, Advocate, and Sri Y.V. Raviraj, Advocate
- For Respondent No.1: Sri Kemparaju, Advocate
- For Respondent No.2: Sri Shanthi Bhushan, DSGI
Key Takeaways
- A man’s income tax returns are his personal financial records, not public documents open for fishing inquiries in matrimonial disputes.
- RTI cannot be misused as a shortcut to access a husband’s confidential tax data when the law clearly protects personal information.
- Privacy is not gender-specific. A husband’s financial dignity deserves the same constitutional protection as anyone else’s.
- Maintenance claims must be decided through proper legal process and evidence, not by breaching statutory safeguards meant to protect individual rights.
- Matrimonial conflict cannot automatically become “larger public interest” to override a man’s right to privacy under law.
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