CIC allows wife access to husband’s income details for maintenance cases
The Central Information Commission has ruled that a wife can be provided with general information about her husband's income in a maintenance case. The Commission directed the Income Tax Department to provide the wife with details of the husband's gross or taxable income if the marital relationship and pending litigation are confirmed. However, copies of income tax returns or other sensitive information will not be shared. This information will not be considered entirely private to the wife.
In an important decision, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has held that information about the income of the husband could be given in general terms to a wife for the purpose of maintenance, and this information cannot be denied under the plea of confidentiality.
In an order passed by Information Commissioner Vinod Kumar Tiwari, the Commission asked the Income Tax Department to provide the wife with general information on the gross or taxable income of her husband if the marital relationship and the pending maintenance or matrimonial dispute are confirmed in court.
However, it was made clear that income tax returns and other personal/sensitive information would not be disclosed. This case was about a woman who complained that her husband was deliberately not revealing his actual income to avoid paying maintenance.
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The woman had requested income information for the past five assessment years under the Right to Information Act (RTI), which the Income Tax Department rejected, citing Section 8(1)(j) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, as private information of a third party.
Accepting the appeal, the Commission stated that income information is no longer entirely private when it is sought by a legally married wife for maintenance.
The Commission directed the wife to first submit documents related to their marital relationship and the pending court case.
In a similar order, the CIC stated that an abandoned wife has the right to receive limited information about her husband's income for the effective resolution of the maintenance case, as it directly relates to her livelihood.
However, the Commission also clarified that different standards will apply to financial information related to banks.
In cases involving the State Bank of India, the CIC refused to disclose information related to bank lockers, balances, and deposits, considering them to be personal information of third parties held in a fiduciary capacity.
Under fiduciary capacity, banks are obligated to keep their customers' information confidential.
