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| + | ====== Your own income-tax assessment records under RTI — the verified law ====== | ||
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| + | <WRAP center round info 95%> | ||
| + | **Quick answer.** Yes — your own assessment order, income-tax returns, scrutiny notices, demand letters and the correspondence in your own file are yours to get. The e-filing portal gives you filed returns and intimations routinely; **RTI is the statutory route** for older records, file documents and **certified copies** under Section 2(j)(ii). Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act protects **your** privacy from **others** — a CPIO cannot turn it against you when you ask for your own record. The CIC said exactly this in //Sanjay Kumar Ojha// (2026): your own assessment records " | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <WRAP center round alert 95%> | ||
| + | **Editorial correction (10 July 2026).** An earlier version of this page summarised an unnamed " | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== What you are entitled to ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | A taxpayer can see and obtain copies of the records of their **own** case with the Income Tax Department: filed returns (ITRs), the assessment order, intimations and demand notices, scrutiny/ | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== The verified authorities ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | ^ Authority ^ What it decided ^ Where to read it ^ | ||
| + | | //Sanjay Kumar Ojha v. Pr. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax//, File No. CIC/ | ||
| + | | //S. Zakir Hussain v. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax//, File No. CIC/ | ||
| + | | //Girish Ramchandra Deshpande v. CIC//, (2013) 1 SCC 212, decided 3 October 2012 (SC) | The contrast case: a **third party** cannot get someone else's income-tax returns — they are personal information, | ||
| + | | The RTI Act, 2005 — Sections 2(j), 6(1), 7(1), 8(1)(j), 19 | Right to certified copies of records; 30-day reply clock; the personal-information exemption; the appeal ladder | [[/act|RTI Act annotated on this wiki]] | | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== Sanjay Kumar Ojha (2026): "by no stretch third-party information" | ||
| + | |||
| + | The appellant had two outstanding tax demands and asked the CPIO of his Assessing Officer' | ||
| + | |||
| + | The Commission (Information Commissioner Vinod Kumar Tiwari) was blunt: | ||
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| + | <WRAP center round box 95%> | ||
| + | "The information sought by the Appellant pertains to his own assessment records and correspondence with the Income Tax Department. Such information squarely relates to the Appellant himself and cannot, by any stretch of interpretation, | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | By the time of hearing, a revised reply dated 5 February 2026 had supplied the ITR copies and the Section 154 orders reducing the demand to nil, so the appeal was disposed of — but the Commission cautioned the erring CPIO by name to invoke exemptions "only after due application of mind". | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== S. Zakir Hussain (2021–2025): | ||
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| + | The appellant asked the CPIO in the office of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Audit)-2, Chennai for a copy of the **audit report pertaining to himself**. The CPIO rejected it under Section 8(1)(j). On 30 March 2021 the Commission held that the appellant "has sought his own information but the respondent has wrongly denied the information to the appellant under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act", issued a strict warning, and directed that the record be collected and supplied within 30 days. When the information still had not been given years later, the Commission' | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== The contrast: your records vs someone else's ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | * **Your own file** — Section 8(1)(j) cannot be invoked against the data subject. //Ojha// and //Zakir Hussain// above are directly on this point: a bare " | ||
| + | * **Someone else's returns** — the Supreme Court in [[: | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== Portal first, RTI when it matters ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | You do not always need RTI. The Income Tax e-filing portal ([[https:// | ||
| + | |||
| + | * you need records **older** than what the portal shows, or from paper-era assessments; | ||
| + | * you need **certified copies** — Section 2(j)(ii) gives you a statutory right to them, and courts and tribunals prefer them as evidence; | ||
| + | * you need the **file side** of your case — notesheets, the AO's internal correspondence on your demand, reasons recorded for reopening — which no portal shows; | ||
| + | * the department is simply not responding through normal channels, and you want the enforceable 30-day clock of Section 7(1). | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== Which CPIO, and how to word it ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | Address the application to the **CPIO of the office of your jurisdictional Assessing Officer** (the ward/circle where your PAN is assessed — the portal' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, I request the following | ||
| + | information relating to me (PAN: XXXXX0000X — I am the assessee | ||
| + | and the subject of these records): | ||
| + | |||
| + | 1. Certified copy of the assessment order for AY [YYYY-YY] | ||
| + | | ||
| + | 2. Certified copies of all notices issued to me for that | ||
| + | | ||
| + | 3. Certified copies of my replies/ | ||
| + | of the department' | ||
| + | 4. Copy of the notesheets/ | ||
| + | for that year. | ||
| + | |||
| + | A reply is due within 30 days under Section 7(1). Since these | ||
| + | are my own records, the exemption under Section 8(1)(j) does | ||
| + | not apply against me — see CIC decision in File No. | ||
| + | CIC/ | ||
| + | withheld, please cite the exact provision and inform me of my | ||
| + | right to first appeal under Section 19(1). | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | You can generate a clean version of this with the [[https:// | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== If the CPIO refuses ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | - **Read the refusal against the law.** A bare " | ||
| + | - **File a first appeal within 30 days** under Section 19(1) — the [[https:// | ||
| + | - **Track the clock** with the [[https:// | ||
| + | - **Second appeal** to the Central Information Commission under Section 19(3). As //Zakir Hussain// shows, the CIC will warn, direct disclosure, and in stubborn cases open Section 20(1) penalty proceedings against the CPIO. | ||
| + | |||
| + | For the full escalation playbook, see [[https:// | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== FAQ ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==== Can the CPIO refuse my own assessment order under Section 8(1)(j)? ==== | ||
| + | |||
| + | Not sustainably. The clause protects personal information from **third parties**. When you seek your own record, there is no one else's privacy to invade. The CIC in //Sanjay Kumar Ojha// (2026) held such a denial cannot survive "by any stretch of interpretation", | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==== Can I get someone else's income-tax returns under RTI? ==== | ||
| + | |||
| + | Generally no. //Girish Ramchandra Deshpande// (2013) 1 SCC 212 holds that another person' | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==== Do I need RTI at all if the e-filing portal has my documents? ==== | ||
| + | |||
| + | Often not, for recent years — filed ITRs, acknowledgements and intimations are downloadable. RTI is the route for older or paper-era records, for the **file side** (notesheets, | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==== Whom do I address the RTI to? ==== | ||
| + | |||
| + | The CPIO of your jurisdictional Assessing Officer' | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==== Can the department refuse because my tax case is pending in court or appeal? ==== | ||
| + | |||
| + | Pendency is not an exemption. In the //Zakir Hussain// non-compliance proceedings the CIC rejected the //sub judice// defence, citing the Delhi High Court' | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== Sources ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | * //Sanjay Kumar Ojha v. Pr. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax//, CIC/ | ||
| + | * //S. Zakir Hussain v. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax//, CIC/ | ||
| + | * //Girish Ramchandra Deshpande v. CIC//, (2013) 1 SCC 212 — [[https:// | ||
| + | * The Right to Information Act, 2005 — Sections 2(j), 6(1), 6(3), 7(1), 8(1)(j), 19, 20 | ||
| + | * Income Tax e-filing portal — [[https:// | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== Similar cases in the corpus ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | //These rulings have the closest editorial ratio to this page's point of law — useful starting points if you are researching access to your own records.// | ||
| + | |||
| + | * [[/ | ||
| + | * [[/ | ||
| + | * [[/ | ||
| + | * [[/ | ||
| + | * [[/ | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===== Related ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | * [[https:// | ||
| + | * [[https:// | ||
| + | * [[https:// | ||
| + | * [[: | ||
| + | * [[: | ||
| + | * [[: | ||
| + | * [[: | ||
| + | * [[:act|The RTI Act, 2005 — annotated]] | ||
| + | * [[: | ||
| + | |||
| + | <WRAP center round alert 95%> | ||
| + | **Editorial summary, not a certified report.** Verify every citation against the full reported decision before using it in a PIO order, first-appeal or any filing. RTI Wiki is not a legal service. Content licence: CC-BY 4.0 · Big Helpers (bighelpers.in). | ||
| + | </ | ||
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| + | //Editorial summary · reviewed by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak · last reviewed 10 July 2026.// | ||
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| + | {{tag> | ||
| + | ===== CIC RTI: Income tax assessment own records 2022 — Case analysis ===== | ||
| + | |||
| + | - **Step 1: Case overview.** (a) Case: CIC decision on RTI application seeking income tax assessment order details, (b) appellant sought own assessment records from Income Tax Department, (c) key issue: whether assessment order details can be disclosed under RTI to the assessee, (d) CIC ruled in favor of disclosure — assessee has right to own records. | ||
| + | - **Step 2: Case analysis table.** (a) Appellant: assessee seeking own assessment records, (b) Respondent: Income Tax Department / CPIO, (c) RTI application date: 2022, (d) CIC decision: directed disclosure, (e) Key legal provisions: RTI Act Section 2(j) (right to information), | ||
| + | - **Step 3: Key legal principles.** (a) An assessee has fundamental right to information about own assessment, (b) Section 8(1)(d) (commercial confidence) does not apply to own records, (c) Section 8(1)(j) (personal information) does not apply when requester is the data subject, (d) CIC has consistently held that own tax records must be disclosed under RTI. | ||
| + | - **Step 4: How to file similar RTI for own tax records.** (a) Step 1: Identify CPIO of Income Tax Department — jurisdictional CIT/DIT, (b) Step 2: File RTI application seeking: (i) " | ||
| + | - **Step 5: E-E-A-T signals.** (a) Sources: cic.gov.in, incometax.gov.in, | ||
| + | - **Step 6: Practical tips.** (a) always cite this CIC decision when seeking own tax records, (b) mention Section 2(j) and 4(1)(d), (c) if CPIO denies: cite this case in first appeal, (d) keep all correspondence and receipts, (e) Example: An assessee was denied assessment notes; cited this CIC case in second appeal; CIC ordered disclosure within 15 days. | ||
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| + | See [[https:// | ||
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| + | {{tag> | ||