The National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), a research institute under the Ministry of Finance, has refused to reveal any information on unaccounted income and wealth inside and outside India, saying that it could affect economic interest of the country.
Denying a copy of the “Estimation of unaccounted income and wealth inside and outside the country” called for by a petitioner under the Right to Information Act, the NIPFP said the information sought was a classified document in terms of the agreement between the institute and the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Thus, the information was exempted under Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act.
Not satisfied with the reply of the Chief Public Information Officer and the First Appellate Authority denying the information that he had requested in 2019, the petitioner, Tallapaneni Krishna, had filed an appeal before the Central Information Commission (CIC).
