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Information Regarding GST Returns Of Company Cannot Be Disclosed Under RTI Act: Bombay High Court

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Case: Adarsh Gautam Pimpare vs. The State of Maharashtra And Others


(Date: October 14, 2025)

The petitioner, Adarsh Gautam Pimpare, filed a Writ Petition challenging the orders of the State Information Commissioner and lower authorities that denied his application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.

1. Facts of the Case


  • The petitioner sought information regarding the GST returns (submissions) for the financial years 2008 to 2023 of six specific industries in Latur district, alleging they had committed a huge fraud of public money by manipulating documents and not submitting proper GST.

  • The Information Officer issued notices to the six industries (third parties) under Section 11 of the RTI Act.

  • The industries objected to the disclosure, denying consent to provide their confidential information to a third party.

  • The application and subsequent appeals by the petitioner were rejected by the Information Officer, the First Appellate Officer, and the State Information Commissioner.

2. Key Issues and Court's Reasoning


The Court addressed two main legal issues:

IssueCourt's Finding & Reasoning
1. Was the Information Officer right to issue notice to the industries (Third Party) under Section 11 of the RTI Act?Yes. The court cited the Supreme Court's Constitution Bench judgment in Central Public Information Officer, Supreme Court of India V/s. Subhash Chandra Agarwal. The ruling establishes that: a) The information sought relates to a third party and was treated as confidential. b) When such information is sought, the procedure under Section 11 of the RTI Act (giving notice and hearing to the third party) is mandatory. c) The GST Authorities correctly issued notices and considered the objections of the industries.
2. Can GST Returns be disclosed under the RTI Act, given Section 158 of the GST Act?No. The Court held that Section 158(1) of the GST Act specifically prohibits the disclosure of all particulars contained in any statement, return, accounts, or documents furnished under the GST Act, except for certain limited purposes mentioned in sub-section (3). The GST Act is a special enactment and a later enactment compared to the RTI Act (which is a general enactment), and thus, the prohibition in the GST Act overrides the RTI Act. Furthermore, the information falls under the exemption of Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act (personal information causing unwarranted invasion of privacy). The petitioner failed to provide prima facie evidence of fraud to satisfy the "larger public interest" exception to warrant disclosure.

3. Conclusion


The Bombay High Court dismissed the Writ Petition, upholding the orders of the Information Commissioner and the other authorities, thereby affirming that GST returns are confidential documents and cannot be disclosed to a third party under the RTI Act without fulfilling the strict requirements of "larger public interest" and overriding the specific prohibition in the GST Act.