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SIC panel asks Maharashtra govt to form case diary policy

In a landmark order, the state information commissioner (SIC) has ordered the state government and the director-general of police (DGP) to frame clear directives and guidelines on case diary details being sought by Right to Information (RTI) applicants.

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Citizens will soon have more informed knowledge of the extent to which details of case diaries will be available under RTI. In a landmark order passed in May this year by the state information commission, it has asked the government to form directives and guidelines on case diary details being sought under RTI Act.

The order was passed by Ajit Kumar Jain (Brihanmumbai) bench on an application by Mumbai resident Vinaya Mukde. Mukde, through five RTI applications, had sought details about a complaint filed by her sister. She had sought to know the details of the action taken by the police about a bank robbery and the case diary details.
The public information officer (PIO) denied the information to Mukde. His argument was that such information was exempted under RTI, and that the information was available with the court and not with the police. The SIC order was passed after hearing five appeals on the issue.

Furnishing information of case diaries crucial to investigations has been a tough task for the police. When cases prolong indefinitely, many accuse them of not probing complaints and seek case diary details. The police argue that providing case diary details can prove detrimental in many cases.
Every police officer conducting an investigation has to enter the day-to-day proceedings of an investigation, recording the time at which the information reached him, the time at which he started the probe and closed his investigation, the place or places s/he visited.

The case diaries, officers say, contain sensitive information and the source of information. Sharing these details, they fear, could put the life of a source in danger and also impede investigations.
The commission, while hearing Mukde’s case, said that citizens have no other way of knowing the progress of a case except through case diaries. It agreed that case diaries contain sensitive information. Hence, it asked officers to remove such sensitive information and provide the rest, as per the provisions of RTI Act, to Mukde.
The SIC then asked the home department and the DGP to form a clear policy on case diaries.

 

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