The Karnataka High Court recently issued a set of gender neutral guidelines detailing how family courts and the Income Tax Department should handle requests for a spouse’s financial records to support maintenance claims in matrimonial cases.

In the February 21 ruling, Justice Suraj Govindaraj said that the guidelines aim to provide a structured procedure for obtaining such records while maintaining confidentiality and ensuring the proper functioning of judicial processes.

“In order to ensure uniformity, clarity and effective implementation of the principles laid down... and to prevent a situation where spouses are left without any effective remedy for obtaining financial information necessary for the just adjudication of maintenance claims, this Court considers it necessary to issue comprehensive guidelines for the courts and the Income Tax Department,” the stated the Court.

It clarified that the guidelines being issued are gender neutral.

"They apply equally to applications filed by a wife seeking financial information of the husband, and to applications filed by a husband seeking financial information of the wife," the Court added.

The move follows a case where a woman sought her husband’s income tax returns under the Right to Information Act (RTI).

The woman's information request was initially denied by the Income Tax (IT) Department's public information officer. However, after two rounds of appeal, the Central Information Commission (CIC) ordered the IT Department to furnish the information sought by the wife.

The IT Department challenged this 2019 CIC decision before the High Court. The Court ruled that an RTI request was not the appropriate route for such disclosure of a spouse's financial records.

The Court held that income tax returns, assessment particulars, and related financial details constitute personal information under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act and are generally exempt from disclosure.

It clarified that the proper method for a spouse to access such records is through the competent court overseeing the maintenance proceedings, rather than by filing an RTI application.

“Having held that income tax returns and related financial particulars cannot ordinarily be accessed through an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005, and that the appropriate course for a spouse seeking such material is to approach the competent court for necessary directions to the Income Tax Department, this Court is of the considered opinion that structured procedural safeguards are required,” said the Court.

The High Court also highlighted the importance of financial records in maintenance claims. It said,

“Such documents are required not only to substantiate a claim for maintenance, but equally to enable the opposite spouse to rebut, negate, or contextualise the claim, and to assist the court in arriving at a proper and just calculation of maintenance or permanent alimony.”

Overview of Court's guidelines

Scope of the guidelines

The guidelines apply to:

• All magistrate courts, family Courts, sessions courts and appellate courts in Karnataka, handling maintenance or alimony cases.

• All Income Tax Department officers, including but not limited to the Central Processing Centre, Centralised Processing Centre, Assessing Officers, Income Tax Officers, Chief Public Information Officers, Commissioner(s) and Chief Commissioner(s) of Income Tax, receiving court directions.

• All proceedings where one spouse seeks production, inspection, or disclosure of the other spouse’s financial records, including income tax returns, bank statements, or documents held by the Income Tax Department or other financial institutions.

Procedural steps for courts

When a court considers it necessary to access a spouse’s financial records, it must follow a structured process:

• The court may issue a production order directing a spouse or the Income Tax Department to provide the relevant records.

• Any application for the production of such records must include notice to the spouse whose financial information is being sought.

• The opposing spouse is allowed seven days to file objections to the production of such records.

• The court is required to hear any objections raised and pass a reasoned order within 14 days of the application.

• Courts must ensure that the information being sought is relevant, proportionate, and necessary for the proceedings before granting access.

• The production order must specify the assessment years, documents required, name and PAN of the spouse, and the date by which the records must be produced.

• Records produced by the Income Tax Department must be in a sealed cover addressed to the court and opened only in the court’s presence.

• The court will determine which portions of the records are relevant and disclose only that information to the applicant spouse, with any irrelevant third-party details redacted.

• Applicant spouses and their advocates must provide an undertaking that the information will be used solely for the maintenance proceedings and not disclosed to third parties.

Safeguards and compliance

The guidelines include detailed safeguards to protect privacy and prevent misuse of financial information:

• Records shall be transmitted in sealed covers and opened only by the court.

• Only relevant portions of the records will be disclosed, with third-party information redacted.

• Misuse of the records, including disclosure outside the proceedings or for collateral purposes, may be treated as contempt of court.

• Copies of records must be returned to the court or destroyed after the conclusion of proceedings.

• Designated officers of the Income Tax Department will ensure prompt compliance with production orders, following a clear timeline for acknowledgment, retrieval, certification, dispatch, and reporting.

• If records are unavailable, the Income Tax Department must file an affidavit explaining the reasons to the court.

• Any objections by the department regarding compliance must be filed before the issuing court within seven working days.

Appellate and suo motu powers

• Appellate courts may review decisions of lower courts that decline to issue production orders, and can issue or direct orders themselves if justice requires.

• Courts may also exercise suo motu powers to summon financial records even without an application, if necessary to determine a fair maintenance award.

The Court stated that these guidelines are designed to ensure uniformity and clarity in the handling of spousal financial records, prevent misuse, and assist courts in arriving at just determinations of maintenance and alimony.

It also directed that any spouse seeking access to financial records must approach the competent court, which will consider applications on their merits and pass orders expeditiously.

Advocate M Dilip and YV Raviraj appeared for the Income Tax Department and other petitioners.

Advocate Kemparaju appeared for the woman (respondent 1) who had sought her husband's financial information through RTI.

Deputy Solicitor General of India (DSGI) Shanthi Bhushan appeared for the Central Information Commission.

[Read Judgement]