Whispers Forum

The appellant sought the ITR details of his father Late Sh. Madan Lal. He admitted that he is not the sole heir of Late Sh. Madan Lal. The respondent contended that there is an ongoing dispute among the brothers of the appellant with regard to the sole heirship and accordingly, they have claimed exemption under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act for denying the ITR details. The CIC held that in the absence of any larger public interest in the matter, the appellant is not entitled to seek the ITR details of Late Sh. Madan Lal which is exempted under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005.
Comments
Ordinarily, the legal heir is entitled to the information pertaining to the deceased. This case throws up a situation where there are multiple legal heirs and only one is seeking the information.
Citation: Kamal Aggarwal v. O/o the Income Tax Officer in Second Appeal Nos. CIC/CCITC/A/2018/155973 CIC/CCITC/A/2018/155918, CIC/CCITC/A/2018/155917, CIC/CCITC/A/2018/155916 & CIC/CCITC/A/2018/155914, Date of Decision: 22-01-2021
Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is an expert on RTI matters and has co-authored the books RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO’s guide to RTI. Apart from her weekly article here, her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link: www.rtifoundationofindia.com

I fully support the views expressed by AK Saxena regarding pro corporate and anti kissan budget 2021-22. I am shocked media, GoI. RBI and many are projecting 10.5% growth from -23.5%, effectively 33.5%. Is it feasible especially when defence figures are missing in the budget. Where is the roadmap for this enormous growth especially when consumer or voter has no money to purchase due to Covid-19 and also faulty economic policies since 2014, demonetization.
Harish Kumar
Pitching hard to remain in job after retirement
It seems that senior most bureaucrats of CBDT, Finance Ministry, DoR are pitching / trying to get their tenures extended after retirement.
Vinod

The populist budget fy 21-22 , replete with confusing statistics, new economic jargons, new schemes with chaste Hindi nomenclatures to dupe farmers and the common man. Anti-kisan and anti- poor budget could escalate the kisan agitation irretrievably.
Budget is PM-centric ( not poor-centric) to get cheap publicity for the coming Assemblies' elections. Manipulating data, as always. Budget is high on promises and low on benefits to the poor. How many promises were executed successfully in the past?. Policy and implementation paralyses, would confront us as we go along.
Mobilising resources through gimmick like "Assets Monetization", is dangerous. It would lead to selling Railway, Defence, PSUs land assets, offloading PSU’s stakes to corporate houses, handing over construction and maintenance of Airports, Railways to the two top Gujarati businesses honchos. Guess, who ? They will construct ware houses, cold storages, fleece farmers and increase their illegal wealth.
Misplaced priorities. All dirty tricks are being applied to deflect public attention from core issues. Such unethical practices were common during the Congress- led UPA rule. Nothing unusual.
PM’s appeal to agitating farmers to contact him being only a " phone call away " amounts to mockery of farmers . Mere political rhetoric.
Is PM not aware that farmers at Delhi’s three borders are under siege of Delhi police surrounded by the 12-layered barricades, barbed wire fencing, concrete walls with iron nails to prevent the ingress and egress of protesting farmers and public. Aaisy gherabandi Lal Quila par kyon nahi banai ? Government in catch-22 situation !
Most baffling ? Where is the mysterious guy called Deep Sidhu who allegedly led the mob to Red fort to unfurl the religious flag at the pole ? His photograph in the privileged company of PM and HM has gone viral. Was he planted by the ruling party with specific mission to derail the otherwise peaceful march.? Where is he hiding ? Why has Delhi police not booked him for sedition ?
The ostrich-like attitude of paid media particularly since persons affected belong to the most vulnerable sections of society, reveals their motive is suspect.
No doubt, the public is being inconvenienced due to heavy police barricading. But, who is to blame ? Royal obstinacy of decision makers, directly or indirectly abetted by the ineffective, incompetent and irresponsible political Opposition led by the Congis , Commies and their moronic allies plus, plus, plus ! The nincompoops have neither the spine, the calibre nor the face to oppose.
The adverse impact of budget will be felt, years later by the posterity ,who will never forgive the government for wonky priorities for petty political gains.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant

In various Ministries/Departments of the Government of India, the competent authority, i.e. ACC approves grant of extension of services, without administrative powers, on contractual basis to JS and above level officers. Likewise, the Administrative Ministries grants extension of services on contractual basis. In the case of ACC approved extension on “contractual basis” without administrative powers, it is seen that the retired personnel JS and above level officer writes his or her designation, which one was holding on the date of retirement . For Example Joint Secretary, Director , Adviser, etc. Deputy Director. This is against the contractual guidelines of the government of India and ACC. Secretary of the Deptt., who boost that he or she is IAS, does not bother to stop these contractual unscrupulous elements for writing their erstwhile designation which one was holding whether working in attached office or subordinate office. They should simply write “Consultant Contractual”. Such officers claim they are still Joint Secretary, Adviser, Scientist G, E, Director, Deputy Secretary etc. and obtaining all the facilities of staff car, rooms, etc. for which they are not eligible neither entitled. Even in some cases, they are attesting the documents even on contractual basis??? This has resulted that the in service officers are being denied their due office space, staff cars etc. at their cost. These contractual retired personnel are the Chamchas and being protected by the Secretary of the Ministry /Department concerned. E. O office must take cognizance as also the DoP&T Secretary and these officers who are using unauthorized or non-approved designation must be removed from the consultancy and their pension should be stopped and all recoveries should be made against use of cars and use of non-entitled rooms or office space from them through court of law, as they do not cover under FR 56J. It is a blot in the philosphy of Good Governance which is being claimed by our Prime Minister in various fora.
BK

In a country where opacity is the rule and no government ever wants to disclose information in "NATIONAL INTEREST" it is sad to see that the already crippled RTI Act is not allowed to function in whatever limited capacity it can. All public organisations should disclosed a basic level of information pro-actively. Hiding everything under the carpet in the name of "security" is not fair. Some basic information must be shared by the organisations even if they are exempt. Anyway, most of these organisations are not accountable to anyone. With RTI, there would be some semblance of transparency.
Neeraj
Public harassment due to traffic chaos
The public is being put to lot of harassment by police by closing this or that highway in anticipation of what they think could be used by farmers. They do so hours before to make their task easier. As a matter of fact they themselves are responsible for creating traffic jams. Take the case today. There was massive line up of the cars, buses and even trucks from Noida turning itself on the DND Flyway. The traffic was so slow with Mayur Vihar side traffic also merging in it. Those of us going to their offices or for appointments with doctors, the speed was nerve-racking. What could be the reason ? Was there any breakdown ? Were there barriers put up ? No when we reached the Yamuna bridge we found on both sides of the roads there were police vehicles buses which brought them there .these were parked on the side occupying one lane .The policemen themselves were standing in the second lane sunning themselves leaving very little space for the moving vehicles. Not caring for the chaotic traffic putting people to so much inconvenience. It was the same unprofessional attitude seen on 26th when they failed to control the crowd with tractors reaching the Redfort and indulging in that unsavoury act of hoisting the other flag and police watching them sitting in the chairs when they were expected to stop them. Please invoke some professionalism and awaken their conscience so that innocent public is spared from unnecessary trouble.
Aarti Khosla

Delhi government is lagging behind in vaccinations for coronavirus. This, despite the large numbers of infections that have been seen in the past in Delhi. The Union Health Ministry has also commented adversely on this. On the other hand, it keeps encouraging congregations of protesters and has started opening schools in Delhi. Will it be too much to hope that the Delhi government will improve their vaccination drive?
Vijay Kumar
Don't infuriate
I don't know why Mr. Harish Kumar is instigating the farmers to become violent when GoI is handling. If you are not able to solve or give suggestions for normalising, don't infuriate. It's a disservice to the nation. No-one here is masters of everything. At least don't demean your own Government and our country. Let us all strive hard for the betterment of the society. If not please shut your mouth.
Seth

The applicant sought to know about the monthly salary paid to her husband. The PIO claimed that DRDO is an exempt organisation u/s 24(1) of the RTI Act and hence no information could be given. The CIC observed that the DRDO has been placed in the Second Schedule of the RTI Act vide notification No. GSR 347 dated 28/09/2005 by the Central Government in exercise of the power conferred by Sub-Section 2 of Section 24 of the RTI Act. In view of this, except for cases where human rights violation and/or corruption are alleged, nothing contained in RTI Act shall apply to the DRDO. As no case of human rights violation or corruption was made out by the Appellant, the CIC upheld the submissions of the PIO.
Comments
Section 4 (1)(b) (x) calls upon the Public Authorities to disclose the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees. However, Sec 24 (1) says that nothing contained in the RTI Act shall apply to the intelligence and security organisations specified in the Second Schedule. Hence, even the information which is required to be pro-actively disclosed under the RTI Act cannot be sought in respect of organisations listed in the second schedule.
Citation: Sarika v. DRDO, RTI Cell, Defence Material & Stores Research and Development Establishment in File no.: CIC/DRADO/A/2019/104760, Date of Decision: 28/01/2021
Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is an expert on RTI matters and has co-authored the books RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO’s guide to RTI. Apart from her weekly article here, her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link: www.rtifoundationofindia.com

What happened on 26th Jan on Republic day, which one always looks forward to for the magnificent parade by our armed forces showcasing many new additions to the fighting power of our army,navy and airforce ,has made us very very sad and angry.It appeared to be a planned sabotage by some goons who were acting on their own or on the orders of those wanting Kassan Andolan for repeal of Farm Laws to be derailed and defamed.They have succeeded in doing so.I wonder who are real criminals.?Those who planned all this storming of the Red Fort and hoisting a communal flag or the police sitting comfortably on the chairs there watching this sacriligious show and not doing anything to prevent it.They need to be booked.Kissans and their leaders had been setting an exenplary behaviour all these two months and they have denied any role in all that voilence and Red Fort incidents.Will some impartial enquiry be held to trace the people behind that carnage?It should be but perhaps it is asking too much of those who could be part of this planned events to finish the peaceful agitation of our kissans.How i wish they had not thought of holding tractor rally on this day.
Aarti Khosla
Fiasco due to farmer's rally
I beg to disagree with the views expressed by AK Saxena on fiasco due to farmer's rally. Farmers were very peaceful in their action. My question is how 3000 police personnel could not stop 100 odd people entering into Red Fort. A wrong notion was created that national flag was replaced with sgpc flag, sgpc flag was shown much below national flag. Why police couldn't stop them re-route red for. Former delhi police commissioner Shri AK Kanta has rightly said "why permission was given by Delhi Police under Central Government to such a big mob with tractors. The dispensation has miserably failed in handling this sensitive issue which concerns 68% of Indian population. Right time GOI which has failed on all fronts
Harish Kumar

Fully agree with V M Prabhakaran's comment on poor working and crumbling edifice of CBIC. Entire Board is functioning on ad-hoc basis. Promotee ACs of 2014 with rich experience are demoralised as they are not being given their due promotion, which is due since 22nd October 2018, even after completing more than 6 years of service, 2 years more than required, where as their direct counterparts have been promoted till 2016, just after rendering 4 years of service which includes 2 years of training period as well. In a recent letter to Chairman CBIC the President of Direct IRS Officers Association, Shri Naresh Penumaka, Pr. Chief Commissioner (Special Secretary rank and pay officer), has stated that "Ram Rajya" has come in Board, because promotion orders of direct officers are being issued on time. In the same breath he states that recently newly promoted ACs (from Gr. B Cadre) will be helpful in lightening the "unimaginable load " of work from direct ACs, as if Department is providing new beast of burdens, who will never be promoted further and are meant to carry load as AC till they retire ? What a rotten mentality it reflects ? The Direct Officers are not able to read the writing on the wall. Very soon IAS Officers will take over their positions at helm and their work will be handed over to SGST Officers because of their Lording attitude, lack-lustre performance and unjustified heavy top, with superfluous posts of Commissioner/Principal Commissioner and Chief Commissioner/Pr. Chief Commissioner, who do the same job and fool the Government. It is high time Govt. rationalize the need of so many Officers at Commissioner and above level, which have been created just to accommodate large number of Direct Officers, whose contribution to revenue generation is questionable and who are drain on exchequer. FM must take this into account while finalizing the Union Budget.
B Gopala Reddy

Union Budget-2021 is in final countdown and lock-in period has started. The budget is to be presented on 01.02.2021 in Parliament. Govt is losing tax revenue heavily on account of dividend on equity and MF, LTCG under Sec.112A, professional income etc. The following points are worth considering by the Finance Minister to maximize the tax revenue: 1. There is direct loss of tax revenue from the income of dividend on equity and MF as dividend is now taxable in the hand of investors and mere 1.3% of total population pay the income tax. The best way to collect the tax at source itself before the dividend is distributed to investors. Here the tax compliance is much higher and Govt. gets tax directly from the company or fund houses on dividend income before it is distributed. Dividend Distribution Tax system is right approach to collect the tax on dividends. DDT should be restored with Sec. 10(34). 2. There is leakage of tax revenue from LTCG under Sec.112A due to mere low number of tax payers. This can be best collected thru STT where each transactions of sale and purchase of equity and MF is taxed. So by increasing STT proportionately to get the increase in tax revenue equal to estimated tax from LTCG under Sec.112A. Also at present there is a problem in filing the tax returns by tax payers and verification of statements by tax authorities specially Schedule CG table 112A. It is complex process both ways. Simple way to maximize tax revenue on this account, simply increase STT proportionally and restore Sec.10(38) where the tax compliance will be more than 90% as STT is collected by stock exchanges and paid in Govt. accounts. 3. In professional income there is a leakage of tax revenue due to large cash transactions as 60-70% of agreed amount is paid in cash and rest in electronic form. So cash transactions to be restricted to some threshold value say Rs. 20,000/ above that all transactions in digital form. Excess flow of cash to be checked by withdrawing high denomination notes 4. Giving 50% deduction in professional income up to 50 lakhs to be reviewed to bring at par with salaried class. Govt. may like to consider above points to minimize the leakage and maximise the tax revenue.
Naveen
Cong should ponder over turmoil in Indian politics
Enough turmoil in Indian politics as of now. How should this be harnessed by the Congress party or, even more importantly, for the Congress party; this is the question that Congressmen and Congresswomen must all ponder today.
Namit Verma

The Delhiites, it seemed, were re-living the horrors of 1984 riots.
The agitators got the chance to release their pent-up anger of 60 days dharna. Swords, tear gas shells ,stone-pelting , lathicharge, violence galore in the name of tractor rallies on the Republic Day.
Even assuming , the legitimate farmers had shunned violence; who could control the Pak-sponsored Khalistani goons, who stealthily intruded into the confusion to mingle with the agitators. Situation was grim, uncontrollable.
Police exercised maximum restraint. But, for, how long? But, it seemed clueless, directionless.
All this vandalism, could have been avoided , had the PM taken the initiative for a dialogue with agitators at the beginning itself. Why has the ruling political dispensation been so adamant ? Royal obstinacy never pays.
The alleged role of corporate funding of political parties for financing the forthcoming assemblies' elections, must be probed.
The collusion of agitators with the dirty tricks department of the Congress and the so-called urban naxals, cannot be ruled out. Where did Yogendra Yadav disappear when violence was raging ? He had promised a peaceful rally.
All must be taken into custody. Fifteen FIRs have been registered. More will follow. As many as 86 policemen of Delhi Police were injured.
Farmers' promise of peaceful rally was not kept due to the entry of uprooted lumpen elements. Running commentaries by ill-informed, biased, screaming TV anchors' added fuel to fire.
End of 60 days old dharna by agitators is not in sight in the foreseeable future. The farmers have lost public sympathy.
Sadly, the national capital was under siege for hours on the Republic Day. India was shamed.
Delhi Police remained restrained, possibly under instructions from the top allowing the situation to escalate. The hoodlums must have been handled with a heavy hand.
Giving the anti-national elements a free hand to enter and vandalize the Red fort, was wrong. Replacing the national flag by religious flag on the pole, was an act of sedition.
MHA's instructions to Delhi police for taking a strict action against the goondas, is too late in the day. It was a case of administrative failure due to lack of political will.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)