The identity of people making anonymous phone calls must be disclosed to the receiver by telecom companies as the public interest in such cases overrides the privacy clause, the Central Information Commission has held.

The case relates to a resident of Kanpur, Hari Shanker Gupta, who was getting calls from two anonymous numbers on his mobile phone at odd hours.

Gupta approached the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited with an RTI request to get details about the numbers from which he was getting calls. He gave the telecom company the numbers from which he was getting these calls and asked them about the identity of the owners.

His request under the transparency law was denied by the officials of the state-run telecom firm on the grounds that the disclosure of details would infringe into the privacy of the owners of those numbers. Following the reply from the BSNL, Gupta pleaded before the Central Information Commission to provide him the information.

"It is to be noted that while the right to privacy is sacrosanct, it is not an absolute right. Considerations of safety, security and convenience of the called party are also relevant considerations," Information Commissioner M L Sharma held in his order.

He said the calls made to Gupta "may impinge" on his security and were in any case caused "nuisance" to him.

"In the circumstances, we are of the opinion that it will be in the larger public interest to disclose the requested information. Hence, the order of the CPIO is set aside and he is hereby directed to disclose the identity and address of the caller," Sharma said.