Certified copies of the arrest memo of a friend prepared at the time of arrest, station diary & name of the officer responsible for destruction of CCTV footage was denied - Appellant: Are SC guidelines being complied with - CIC: denial upheld
6 Sep, 2015O R D E R
RTI application:
1. The appellant filed an RTI application dated 30.6.2014 seeking information/ certified copies of the arrest memo prepared at the time of arrest, and certified copies of the station diary which have the information about the name of the next friend of the person who has been informed of the arrest, certified copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest, name of the RPF officer responsible for destruction of evidence. The PIO responded on 25.07.2014. The appellant filed first appeal dated 11.8.2014 with the first appellate authority. The FAA responded on 4.9.2014. The appellant filed 2nd appeal dated 24.10.2013 with the Commission.
Hearing:
2. Both the parties participated in the hearing through video conferencing.
3. The appellant referred to his RTI application dated 30.6.2014 and reiterated the points mentioned in the RTI application. The appellant wanted to know whether the guidelines issued by Supreme Court are being complied with or not. The appellant stated that he was seeking certified copies of the arrest memo prepared at the time of arrest, certified copy of the station diary and name of the officer responsible for destruction of evidence, i.e., CCTV footage.
4. The respondent stated that they are following the directions of the Supreme Court. The respondent said that earlier they provided to the appellant number of arrest memos prepared. The respondent stated that they denied copy of arrest memos prepared u/s 8 (1) (a), (h) and (j) of the RTI Act. The respondent said that station diary contains deployment of security staff and disclosing the information would endanger security. The respondent further stated that the information sought by the appellant is sensitive information, therefore, they did not provide it to the appellant. The respondent stated that CCTV footage is automatically deleted after 15-20 days and no official is responsible to delete the CCTV footage.
5. The action taken by the respondent is in conformity with the RTI Act.
Decision:
6. The Commission's intervention is not required in the matter. The appeal is disposed of. Copy of decision be given free of cost to the parties.
(Vijai Sharma)
Chief Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri Samir Zaveri v. Central Railway in Appeal No. CIC/VS/A/2014/003781