CIC hears RTI application for making IT returns of MPs public. Judgement reserved.

RTIs were filed by ADR in February, 2010 to various Income Tax authorities to seek information regarding Income Tax Returns of 22 MPs and 20 MLAs and later to the concerned Appellate Authorities, all of whom had held the opinion that the information was covered under Sections 8(1)(j), 8(1)(e) and 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act and hence cannot be provided. RTIs were filed to corroborate the asset increases of these 42 MPs/MLAs with their asset declarations to ECI between two elections. CIC heard the case and then referred it to a full bench of commissioners.The Commission in its final order dated 10th August, 2016 directed the I.T Dept. to examine each point of the RTI request and issue notices to all third parties in all eight cases as per the provisions of Section 11 of the RTI Act. The Commission also directed the CPIOs to duly consider the larger public interest and secure responses of the parties after giving sufficient opportunity to the appellants and decide on information with speaking orders on each point, within three months from the date of receipt of this order. For copy  Click here

Why IT returns of MPs/MLAs should be made public: English, Hindi

The timeline of events for MP IT Returns case

1. 22nd February, 2010: An RTI was filed with the respective IT departments to retrieve IT Returns of 20 MPs with exponential growth in assets between two elections. For a copy Click Here

2. 6th May, 2010: First Appeal with IT department for follow up on information denied under Sections 8(1)(j), 8(1)(e) and 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act. For a copy Click Here

      RTI and First Appeal Response of some MP's is attached here for reference : 

• Jyotiraditya Scindia
• Kumari Shailaja and Ajit Singh
• Lalu Prasad
• Naveen Jindal
• Paramjeet Kaur
• Sachin Pilot
• Sharad Pawar
• Uday Singh and Dushyant Singh

3. 20th August, 2010: Second Appeal with Central Information Commission. For a copy Click Here

4. 20th April, 2012: Notice for the first hearing at CIC sent to concerned parties. For a copy Click Here

5. 3rd May, 2012: First hearing with the CIC takes place for MP Uday Singh and MP Dushyant Singh

6. 8th November, 2012: Notice for second hearing of CIC was sent to concerned parties in the case. For a copy Click Here

7. 22nd November, 2012: Second hearing at CIC takes place. Press Release for this CIC hearing to make MP IT Returns public. For a copy Click Here

6. 22nd November, 2o12: Submission no. I filed with the CIC on the day of this hearing. For a copy Click Here

7. 7th March, 2013: Notice for the hearing of the full bench of CIC sent to concerned parties. For a copy Click Here

8. 4th April, 2013: Submission no. II filed with the CIC based on voluntary disclosure by MPs prior to the full bench hearing. For a copy Click Here

9. 12th April, 2013: Larger Bench of CIC to Hear the Case on Making Income Tax Returns of MPs Public. For a copy of the Press Release Click Here

10.16th April, 2013: Hearing with the larger bench at CIC takes place.  For a copy of the Press Release: Click Here

11.10th August, 2016:  Final Order of CIC takes place.  For a copy  Click Here

Apart from the RTIs; in order to build public opinion, we also requested all Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs to disclose their IT Returns in larger public interest. Some of these MPs sent us the IT Returns and insisted that we make them public on our website whereas others uploaded them on their own website. We also came across some MPs and MLAs that have already submitted their IT Returns along with the respective Chief Minister's office and the Prime Minister's office. Following is the list of MPs whose IT Returns are in public domain. We have also attached their ITR for further reference.