Details of female convicts of Tihar Jail sought under RTI

Background

The Appellant sought a copy of list of female convicts lodged in the Tihar Jail from 1.4.2004 to 31.1.2011 with name, age, qualification of the female convict, date on which sentence started and total number of years spent in the jail, details of crime committed for which sentence awarded. He also wanted to have the name, age, sex of the children of the female convicts who are staying with their mothers and who were born during their mother’s sentence. Further the appellant asked for the names, age, sex and category of female convict’s children, if they are studying, their schooling address along with a copy of list of NGO’ who are taking care of female convict’s rights, social & human concerns. The PIO provided the list of female convicts along with the list wise particulars.

View of CIC

During the hearing, the Commission observed that complete requisite information have been provided to the appellant by the respondent. However, as a matter of caution, the PIO was directed to again provide a copy of replied along with its enclosures to the appellant, free of cost.

Comments

Data is not available easily in India and this case law demonstrates how the RTI Act can help in data mining. Such data can be extremely useful while analysing the trends in crime and planning for the future.

Citation Shri Thakur Rajeshwar Singh v Delhi Police, PHQ in File no. CIC/SS/A/2011/001740