Wife can get information about income of her husband through RTI; check details

The Central Information Commission turned down the IT department's decision that she belonged to a third party.

Representational Image: ZeeNews

New Delhi: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has held that a wife can get information about the gross income of her husband through an RTI, according to a Times of India report.

The CIC delivered this decision on Tuesday after hearing an appeal filed by one Rahmat Bano of Jodhpur. The Commission turned down the IT department's decision that she belonged to a third party.

The CIC also rubbished the 'third-party' argument of the Income Tax (I-T) department's claim that such information does not pertain to the Right to Information. 

The Commission directed the I-T department of Jodhpur to provide the woman with the information within 15 days.

Notably, the Central Information Commission had in 2014 held that wives of government servants have a "right" to know the salary particulars of their husbands, and these details should be made public by their offices as mandated under suo-moto disclosure clause of the RTI Act.

The details about a government employee's salary are no third-party information and these have to be voluntarily disclosed under Section 4(1)(b)(x) of the RTI Act, the CIC had then said.