Information Sought on Quarterly Wise GST ITC not Material Information under RTI Act: CIC dismisses Appeal [Read Order]

The Central Information Commission (CIC) dismissed an appeal holding that Information sought on quarterly wise Goods and Service Tax (GST) Input Tax Credit (ITC) is not material information under the Right to Information Act, (RTI) 2005.

The appellant, S Paulraj has sought information on

1. Quarterly wise GST ITC filed under GSTR-3B from 1.7.2017 to 31.3.2022.
2. Quarterly wise GST Amount filed under GSTR-1 from 1.7.2017 to 31.3.2022.
3. Quarterly wise GST collection amount from 1.7.2017 to 31.3.2022. 5. Quarterly wise GST ITC amount allowed under GST Tran-1 and GST Tran-2 to adjust towards the GST amount filed under GSTR-1.

Section 2(f) of the RTI Act, 2005 ‘Material Information’ is the information, which already exists, in physical or electronic form. Since the information sought by the applicant is not maintained by GSTN in the manner sought and is not available or existing with the public authority, therefore CPIO has refused to furnish such information and the First Appellant Authority upheld the same.

In response to appellant’s contentions, the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) noted that information sought vide Sr. No. (ii) is vague and not specific, in the sense that there is no clarity as to whether the appellant has sought the information pertaining to the total ITC availed in GSTR-3B under various heads or ITC utilised to discharge the liability. Again, the information at Sr. No. (iii) is also vague in nature since there is no clarity as to which tax components, the details of GST amount has been sought for the given period.

The CPIO further noted that the information sought by the Applicant vide Sr. No. (ii) and (iii) is not maintained by the GSTN in any form/report in ordinary course of business. As a result, the information sought under Sr. Nos. (ii) and (iii) does not qualify to be Material Information within the meaning of Section 2(f) of the RTI Act, 2005.

A Single Member Bench of the Commission comprising Saroj Punhani, Information Commissioner held that “Relying upon the hitherto mentioned judgements of various courts and tribunals, it shall be inferred that the order of the First Appellate Authority (FAA) passed is intra vires to the statute of Right to Information Act, 2005. The FAA has rightly refused to disclose information for the reason that the information sought by the Appellant is not ‘Material Information’ under Section 2 (f) of the statute and the information is vague.”

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