TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2013 (4) TMI 522
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....nstruction dated 19.06.2009. 2. The petitioner, who is an advocate by profession, and is principally practicing in the field of income tax law, had filed an application dated 05.07.2010, with the CBDT under Section 6 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (in short the RTI Act) seeking information pertaining to cases excluded from scrutiny, where the disclosure was made during survey. In addition to this, further information was sought qua scrutiny guidelines for the financial year 2009-10. The CPIO of the CBDT vide letter dated 19.07.2010 refused to supply information as sought for by the petitioner. 3. Aggrieved by the same, petitioner filed an appeal with the first appellate authority. In the appeal an additional request was made, for b....
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....ith regard to scrutiny guidelines would impact the economic interest of the country. 5.1 Mr Gupta has submitted, given the fact that, in the past such information has been supplied, it is difficult to appreciate as to how economic interest of the country would now suddenly get impacted in scrutiny guidelines are put in public realm. This is especially so, in the circumstances that in order to ascertain whether or not an Assessing Officer has correctly exercised his jurisdiction, availability of the scrutiny guidelines in public domain, attains importance. 6. In rebuttal, Mr A.N. Singh and Mr Jatan Singh submitted that, in order to avoid harassment to the general public, and to ensure fairness in the selection of cases, which are taken up ....
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.... the respondents in declining the request of the petitioner for supply of information sought for, in the instant case. This information according to the learned counsels for respondents falls within the realm of Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act and thus stands excluded as it would impact the economic interest of the country. 7. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. Undoubtedly, the instructions with regard to procedure for selection of cases for scrutiny have been issued from time to time both qua corporate assessees as well as non-corporate assessees. By way of example, one may only refer to instructions no. 1509 dated 13.05.1983, instruction no. 1967 dated 07.06.1999, instruction no. Nil of 2005 reported ....
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....lude, I take it, the financial resources of the country. While the term interest in the context of the RTI would mean financial stake. (See Concise Oxford Dictionary 9th Edition Pages 429-430 and Page 710). 7.4 The expression, economic interest, thus takes within its sweep matters which operate at a macro level and not at an individual, i.e., micro level. In my view, by no stretch of imagination can scrutiny guidelines impact economic interest of the country. These guidelines are issued to prevent harassment to assessees generally. It is not as if, de hors the scrutiny guidelines, the I.T. Department cannot take up a case for scrutiny, if otherwise, invested with jurisdiction, in that behalf. This is an information which has always been i....