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Prakash Yedhula (Lawyer)     19 December 2010

RTI helps accused to access case diaries denied by Police

 

The Delhi High Court has asked Delhi Police to provide to an accused the daily diary (DD) entry mentioning his arrest, information collected during the investigation and copies of the case diary.

Justice S. Muralidhar passed the direction dismissing an appeal by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Anti-Corruption Branch) against an order by the Central Information Commission (CIC) on a petition by the accused, D.K. Sharma, when the officer refused to provide the documents asked for by him.

The police had denied the information to the accused on the ground that trial of the case had been completed and that he was not entitled to a case diary in terms of Section 172 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code and that the provisions of the RTI Act had to be read subject to Section 172.

Countering the police’s argument, the accused in person argued that his right to ask for the information under the RTI Act could not be denied citing the quoted Section of the Code and that no prejudice would be caused to the investigating agency as the trial had been completed.

Dismissing the appeal, Justice Muralidhar said: ``This Court is inclined to concur with the view expressed by CIC that in order to deny information under the RTI Act, the authority concerned would have to show a justification with reference to one of the specific clauses under Section 8 (1) of the Act.’’

``In the instant case, the police have been unable to discharge that burden. The mere fact that a criminal case is pending may not by itself be sufficient unless there is a specific power to deny disclosure of the information concerning such case’’, Justice Muralidhar said.

``No prejudice can be caused to the police if the D.D. entry concerning his arrest, the information gathered during the course of the investigation, and the copies of the case diary are furnished to the accused. The right of an applicant to seek such information……cannot be said to be barred by any provision of the Cr.P.C’’, Justice Muralidhar further said.

``It is required to be noticed that Section 22 of the RTI Act states that the RTI Act would prevail notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and any other law for the time being in force’’, Justice Muralidhar said, elucidating the provision of the RTI Act.

Courtesy: The Hindu



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 12 Replies

Y V Vishweshwar Rao (Advocate )     19 December 2010

 Very Good information  Prakash Ji    it is very useful !

Aashish Satpute. (student)     19 December 2010

its interesting! want to read full case plz give citation of case????

(Guest)

KINDLY GIVE THE CITation

Sunil Pathak (Proprietor)     19 December 2010

Thanks , it is very useful, in no of applications under RTI, the authorities give base less reasons to hide facts. Why they do it, is not understandable. 

1 Like

Arup (UNEMPLOYED)     19 December 2010

realy useful information.

lissing perme (unemployed)     08 January 2011

Thanks and it's interesting! want to read full case plz give citation of case???? 

DR.SANAT KUMAR DASH (Eye Specialist)     10 January 2011

Thanks    for    a   very    good   Information.


(Guest)

Useful information.... Thanks for this... Citation pls... Regards... Ajitabh

Avnish Kaur (Consultant)     13 January 2011

$~ * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI 10 + W.P.(C) 12428/2009 & CM APPL 12874/2009 DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF POLICE ..... Petitioner Through Mr. Pawan Sharma, Standing counsel with Mr. Sanjay Lao, APP and Mr. Laxmi Chauhan, Advocate along with SI Anil Kumar, Anti Corruption Branch versus D.K.SHARMA ..... Respondent In person. CORAM: JUSTICE S. MURALIDHAR ORDER % 15.12.2010 1. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anti Corruption Branch ('DCP') is aggrieved by an order dated 25th September 2009 passed by the Central Information Commission ('CIC') directing the Petitioner DCP to provide to the Respondent copies of the documents sought by him. These documents include certified copies of D.D. entry of arrest of the Respondent and various other documents relating to the investigation of the case, under FIR No. 52 of 2003. The CIC found the denial of the information by the Petitioner by taking recourse of Section 8 (1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 ('RTI Act') to be untenable. It was held that none of the clauses under Section 8 (1) covered subjudice matters and therefore, the information could not be denied. 2. This Court has heard the submissions of Mr. Pawan Sharma, learned counsel appearing for the Petitioner, and the Respondent who appears in W.P. (Civil) 12428/2009 Page 1 of 3 person. 3. Mr. Pawan Sharma referred to Section 172 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ('CrPC') and submitted that copies of the case diary can be used by a criminal court conducting the trial and could not be used as evidence in the case. He submitted that even the accused was not entitled, as a matter of right, to a case diary in terms of Section 172 (2) CrPC and that the provisions of the RTI Act have to be read subject to Section 172 (2) CrPC. Secondly, it is submitted that the trial has concluded and the Respondent has been convicted. All documents relied upon by the prosecution in the trial were provided to the Respondent under Section 208 CrPC. The Respondent could have asked for the documents sought by him while the trial was in progress before the criminal court. He could not be permitted to invoke the RTI Act after the conclusion of the trial. 4. The Respondent who appears in person does not dispute the fact that the trial court has convicted him. He states that an appeal has been filed which is pending. He submits that his right to ask for documents concerning his own case in terms of the RTI Act was not subject to any of the provisions of the CrPC. Finally, it is submitted that no prejudice would be caused to the Petitioner at this stage, when the trial itself has concluded if the documents pertaining to the investigation are furnished to the Respondent. 5. The above submissions have been considered. 6. This Court is inclined to concur with the view expressed by the CIC that in W.P. (Civil) 12428/2009 Page 2 of 3 order to deny the information under the RTI Act the authority concerned would have to show a justification with reference to one of the specific clauses under Section 8 (1) of the RTI Act. In the instant case, the Petitioner has been unable to discharge that burden. The mere fact that a criminal case is pending may not by itself be sufficient unless there is a specific power to deny disclosure of the information concerning such case. In the present case, the criminal trial has concluded. Also, the investigation being affected on account of the disclosure information sought by the Respondent pertains to his own case. No prejudice can be caused to the Petitioner if the D.D. entry concerning his arrest, the information gathered during the course of the investigation, and the copies of the case diary are furnished to the Respondent. The right of an applicant to seek such information pertaining to his own criminal case, after the conclusion of the trial, by taking recourse of the RTI Act, cannot be said to be barred by any provision of the CrPC. It is required to be noticed that Section 22 of the RTI Act states that the RTI Act would prevail notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and any other law for the time being in force. 7. Consequently, this Court is not inclined to interfere with the impugned order dated 25th September 2009 passed by the CIC. 8. The petition and the pending application are dismissed. S.MURALIDHAR, J DECEMBER 15, 2010 rk W.P. (Civil) 12428/2009 Page 3 of 3

Attached File : 35 35 deputy commissioner of police vs d k sharma on 15 december 2010.pdf downloaded: 536 times
2 Like

Karl Jacob (Partner/Advocate)     21 May 2011

Thanks a lot Mr.Prakash. Very informative.

Arun Kumar Singh (Senior Manager Marketing)     23 January 2012

Dear Sir Can I request for copy of FIR from police as a general public for a paricular case ; here I need to mention that inspite of several appeal to SC,HC and other Govt. authorities the framed accused is being denied Bail in the AMRI Hospital Fire Tragedy and I being a healthcare professional , Activist & Having special interest on Human Rights have made several Submission with various case citation of SC and HC clearly establishing the fact that the framed accused are entitiled for Bail , Bail is being denied in recent Judgement the Delhi High Court granted Bail to Suresh Kalmadi relying on principal of  "Bail is rule and Jail is Exception"; As such can I ahve acees to FIR through RTI , Please let me know is it necessary to send submission through lawyer only, whether My personal submission sent by courier will not be considered at all at any stage, please clarify.

Shonee Kapoor (Legal Evangelist - TRIPAKSHA)     26 January 2012

FIR is a public document, in many states now they are available on website.

 


Regards,
 
Shonee Kapoor
harassed.by.498a@gmail.com

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