RTI Act can explode a Pandora’s Box by making personal and corporate tax information available to citizens.

The Supreme Court has once high lighted the importance of disclosure of secret information in public interest in SP Gupta’s case .The Apex court has observed that "disclosure of information in regard to the functioning of the government must be the rule, and secrecy, an exception justified only where the strictest requirement of public interest so demands "
Well before commencement of RTI act it has always enamored some way or other in Income Tax Act, the importance to maintain secrecy of tax information of the assessee filed along with income tax returns . The old income-tax law of ‘22 had provision for protection against disclosure of information and the present Act of ‘61 had matching provisions. But this provisions were omitted in ‘64 and new provisions were brought in to empower a chief commissioner or commissioner to disclose information regarding tax matters of an assessee to a third person, on request, if it is in public interest. The revenue officers exercise quasi judicial authority and orders passed cannot be summoned by Parliament under the rules of procedure of Parliament.
But RTI Act overrides the income tax law, which contains restrictive provisions limiting its application in case of certain classes of information like commercial trade secrets which may jeopardize the competitive position of a third party; Information obtained in a fiduciary relationship; Personal information, which has no relationship to public interest, that can cause invasion of privacy.
But again we are faced with that same scenario resulting from exercise of discretion by the authorities to judge which personal information shall or shall not cause invasion of privacy .
Right to privacy is the fundamental right as a part of personal liberty as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The Supreme Court has held in Kharak Singh’s case that “right to privacy” is a part of right to “protection and personal liberty” guaranteed under the Constitution. It is a well settled principle of law that information imparted in confidence shall be protected. .
With the new found handle in form of RTI act under the guise of public interest, indiscriminate invasion of privacy will lead to abuse of the act and end up piling up cases in courts .

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