Can a man seek income details of his estranged wife through RTI for evidence in maintenance case?

financialexpress.com:

A husband can seek generic income details of his estranged wife through RTI to corroborate evidence in a maintenance case, according to a recent decision of the Central Information Commission (CIC).

In the case (Yash Malhotra vs CPIO, IT Dept), Information Commissioner Saroj Punhani directed the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the Income Tax Department to provide the man with “generic details of the net
taxable income/gross income” of his estranged wife.

“Commission directs the CPIO to provide only the “generic details of the net taxable income/gross income” of the Appellant’s wife for the specified time period as contained in the RTI Application to the Appellant free of cost within 15 days from the date of receipt of this order. A compliance report to this effect shall be sent to the Commission by the CPIO immediately thereafter within 7 days,” said the CIC’s order dated 27th September 2023.

According to the decision, the appellant had sought income-related details of his estranged wife to corroborate evidence pertaining to a maintenance case pending against him before the Court of Law. However, he was aggrieved by the fact that the information was “wrongly denied by the CPIO under the garb of Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act”.

Also Read: Husband refuses to share details of gross income. Wife gets it through RTI

The appellant had filed an RTI application dated 10-02-2022 seeking income details of his wife. However, the CPIO denied the information under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. The appellant then filed a First Appeal dated 16-02-2023. The FAA, however, upheld CPIO’s decision.

“As discussed above, the application was disposed off by the concerned CPIO, ITO Ward 58(7), New Delhi and information was