<p>Acting on an application, the income tax department has started giving details of assets of Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officers.<br /><br />Exercising his Right to Information, social activist Ajay Dubey has asked the income tax department to give information on tax returns filed by about 350 IAS officers of Madhya Pradesh cadre during the past five years.<br /><br />Accepting the application, the Public Information Officer of the income tax department forwarded the application to all its offices asking them to furnish requisite details in return. In a recent order, the Central Information Commission in New Delhi had said "...disclosure of information such as assets of a Public servant, - which is routinely collected by the Public authority and routinely provided by the Public servants,- cannot be construed as an invasion on the privacy of an individual".<br /><br />"...If people who aspire to be public servants must declare their property details, it is only logical that the details of assets of those who are public servants must be considered to be disclosable," the decision by Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi read. <br /><br />"Making details of bureaucrats assets public will help ensuring people's trust in the system and add to transparency," Dubey said.<br /><br />Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta is also investigating about 10 cases involving senior IAS officers whereas about 20 others are pending in court.<br /><br />The recent searches by the income tax department in Bhopal and Chhattisgarh have detected wealth to the tune of more than Rs 500 crore unlawfully amassed, among others by IAS couple Arvind Joshi, Tinu Joshi -- both principal secretary ranked officers in Madhya Pradesh -- and Chhattisgarh Agriculture Secretary B L Agarwal.<br /><br />"Bringing details of babu's assets in public domain will help government in checking corruption and other illegal practice," the RTI applicant said.</p>
<p>Acting on an application, the income tax department has started giving details of assets of Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officers.<br /><br />Exercising his Right to Information, social activist Ajay Dubey has asked the income tax department to give information on tax returns filed by about 350 IAS officers of Madhya Pradesh cadre during the past five years.<br /><br />Accepting the application, the Public Information Officer of the income tax department forwarded the application to all its offices asking them to furnish requisite details in return. In a recent order, the Central Information Commission in New Delhi had said "...disclosure of information such as assets of a Public servant, - which is routinely collected by the Public authority and routinely provided by the Public servants,- cannot be construed as an invasion on the privacy of an individual".<br /><br />"...If people who aspire to be public servants must declare their property details, it is only logical that the details of assets of those who are public servants must be considered to be disclosable," the decision by Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi read. <br /><br />"Making details of bureaucrats assets public will help ensuring people's trust in the system and add to transparency," Dubey said.<br /><br />Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta is also investigating about 10 cases involving senior IAS officers whereas about 20 others are pending in court.<br /><br />The recent searches by the income tax department in Bhopal and Chhattisgarh have detected wealth to the tune of more than Rs 500 crore unlawfully amassed, among others by IAS couple Arvind Joshi, Tinu Joshi -- both principal secretary ranked officers in Madhya Pradesh -- and Chhattisgarh Agriculture Secretary B L Agarwal.<br /><br />"Bringing details of babu's assets in public domain will help government in checking corruption and other illegal practice," the RTI applicant said.</p>