New Delhi, February 16 The Central Information Commission has criticized the Central GST authorities in Rajkot for denying information under the RTI Act regarding arrests, bail, cases, and recoveries, citing ongoing investigations. The Commission observed that such a blanket denial could "certainly lead to suspicion of collusion with the offenders."
Information Commissioner Vinod Kumar Tiwari stated that while Section 8 of the RTI Act permits withholding of information that may impede investigation or prosecution, the exemption cannot be applied in a "blanket and mechanical manner" to all queries without examining their nature.
The appeal arose from an RTI application seeking information related to GST enforcement in Rajkot between July 2017 and September 2023.
The applicant had requested details such as the number of cases where arrests were made, the number of cases in which prosecution complaints were filed, recoveries made after arrest on a case-by-case basis, instances where bail was granted by courts, and the number of cases where appeals or revisions were filed against bail orders.
In the application, the appellant alleged that despite the "claims of 'unwavering commitment to combating tax evasion with stringent actions being taken against defaulters'," there was inaction after arrests, no post-arrest recoveries in many cases, and prosecution complaints were allegedly not being filed even in cases involving "significant revenue implications."
The appellant also claimed that enforcement actions remained "cosmetic in nature" and questioned the lack of follow-up measures to protect government revenue.
The GST department had denied most of the information, stating that investigations were ongoing and disclosure would impede the process, while invoking Section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act.
However, the Commission noted that the appellant had largely sought statistical and numerical information.
"Such aggregated and non-identifiable numerical data, if provided without disclosing case-wise or sensitive particulars, would not ordinarily impede the process of investigation or prosecution," the order said, adding that even overall figures of recoveries for a specific period would not hamper investigations.
"The respondent has not demonstrated how disclosure of broad, non-identifiable statistical information in numbers alone would impede ongoing investigations. A mere assertion that investigation is pending is not sufficient," the Commission observed.
The CIC further stated that a "blanket denial will certainly lead to suspicion of collusion with the offenders/tax evaders, whereas its disclosure will expose any collusion that may have happened."
Directing the authorities to revisit the RTI application, the Commission ordered the Central GST office in Rajkot to provide aggregated information in numerical form on arrests, prosecutions, bail, appeals, and recoveries within three weeks, withholding only such information that squarely attracts exemption under the RTI Act with cogent justification.