Can revelation of CCTV footage adversely affect the security of people?
12 Mar, 2013Background
The appellant alleged that he was assaulted at a metro station by a staff member of the DMRC. Later, he filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) requesting for a Close Circuitry Television (CCTV) footage and information pertaining to the time limit for its storage and other related details. The Public Information Officer (PIO) informed the appellant that the retention period for CCTV footage is 4 days as per the norms and standard practice followed in DMRC, after which the CCTV footage contents get automatically deleted. The First Appellate Authority upheld the reply of PIO and stated that CCTV footage could not be given to public due to security reasons.
Proceedings
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that he had not been informed about the norms for retention of the CCTV footage. The respondent stated that the response was self - explanatory and clearly stated the position. The appellant stated that he had been subjected to extremely insulting behavior by the DMRC staff and that he wanted the CCTV footage in this context. He further stated that he had also filed a complaint against the staff member who misbehaved with him but he has not received any information from the DMRC. Claiming that he had to resort to RTI because the attitude of the DMRC towards his complaint has been utterly casual, the appellant demanded that if the CCTV footage cannot be made available, the public authority should at least inform him as to what action has been taken against the official concerned.
View of CIC
The Commission directed the respondent to provide to the appellant information about the departmental action taken in the matter in context of the complaint and the RTI application.
Citation: Mr. Rahul Mohod v. Delhi Metro Rail Corpn in Decision No. CIC/DS/A/2012/000359/VS/02305
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1113
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission