Information regarding GST Invoices of Third Parties cannot be Disclosed under RTI: CIC [Read Order]

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has held that the information regarding the GST invoics belongs to third parties cannot be disclosed under the Right to Information Act, 2008.

The Appellant, Vmula Madhu contested the averment of the Commissioner of Central Excise and Service Tax, Warangal and stated that as per the information gathered from the public domain, the jurisdiction of the averred GSTIN falls under Central jurisdiction, Warangal. He further contended that both the Centre & State are collecting GST but both are evading the provision of information.

Relying on the statutory provisions and the judicial decisions, Information Commissioner Saroj Punhani observed that “upon hearing the contention of the Appellant it appears that he is questioning the factual position informed by the CPIO regarding the amenability of the averred GSTIN to the State jurisdiction, which is not the mandate of the RTI Act.”

Noting that the information sought for by the Appellant relates to third parties, disclosure of which stands exempted under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, the CIC held that “In this regard, the attention of the Appellant is further drawn towards a judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Central Public Information Officer, Supreme Court of India Vs. Subhash Chandra Agarwal wherein the import of “personal information” envisaged under Section 8(1)(j) of RTI Act has been exemplified in the context of earlier ratios laid down by the same Court in the matter(s) of Canara Bank Vs. C.S. Shyam; Girish Ramchandra Deshpande vs. Central Information Commissioner & Ors., (2013) 1 SCC 212 and R.K. Jain vs. Union of India & Anr.”

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