Ahmedabad, Aug 4 (PTI) Expressing displeasure over police not providing CCTV footage of police stations sought by citizens under the RTI Act, the Gujarat Information Commission has directed officials concerned to preserve such images or face action under the legislation.
In an order issued on July 19, the commission clarified that if an RTI (Right To Information) application is received by a police station within 30 days of an incident, the CCTV footage of that matter must be preserved.
“Failure to preserve the recording will lead the commission to initiate proceedings for disciplinary action and penalty under Section 20 of the RTI Act and appropriate action under the Gujarat Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1971,” the panel warned in its order.
A resident of Ahmedabad’s Naroda area had filed an RTI application seeking CCTV footage from Shaher Kotda Police Station to obtain evidence of alleged misconduct against him.
When he did not receive the relevant information from the police station, he filed an appeal with the Information Commission.
During the hearing of the appeal, a representative of the Public Information Officer (PIO) claimed before the panel that the CCTV footage in question could not be provided to the applicant as it got deleted due to a “technical fault”.
The officer further claimed that though a technical expert was roped in to retrieve the data as directed by the commission, the footage could not be recovered.
Commenting on the response, the commission noted applications seeking CCTV footage of police stations are being received by the panel frequently.
“However, the Commission has observed that such CCTV footage is hardly provided to the applicants” the order said.
A 2022 circular issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) mandates that CCTV footage must be preserved until the disposal of the second appeal of an RTI applicant, it pointed out.
Furthermore, the commission noted the Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) had also issued similar instructions in the past and directed police officials to preserve the footage till the disposal of the second appeal.
The commission stated that the purpose of installing CCTV cameras will only be served only if the GAD circular and departmental instructions are strictly followed.
“Despite such instructions, police station officers or staff refuse to provide footage by citing excuses, which is not proper,” said the panel.
The commission directed the DGP to issue a fresh order asking police officials concerned to strictly adhere to the previous circular on preserving CCTV footage.
The commission warned the State Public Information Officer (PIO) and the First Appellate Authority (FAA) will be liable for penalty and disciplinary action under Section 20 of the RTI Act if they fail to provide the footage to applicants. PTI PJT PD RSY
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.