Seeking copy of arrest warrant through an application under RTI
27 Jun, 2013
Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Delhi Police seeking information in respect of raid conducted by Delhi Police at the house of a person in relation to a case registered under section 420/406/468/471/120B. She wanted to know whether any warrant had been issued for arresting the said person along with the copy of the warrant. She also wanted the names and the numbers of the police personnel who had accompanied the Inspector at the time of raid and the D.D. number containing the entry of said raid. The Public Information Officer (PIO) furnished part information but denied the information in respect of the warrant under section 8(1)(h)
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders;
of the RTI Act stating that the case was under investigation.
Proceedings
During the hearing the before Central Information Commission (CIC), the respondent submitted that they had conducted a raid at the house of the said person but they did not find him at his house. So the next day, they obtained a warrant from the court for arresting the accused and again conducted the raid. The respondent also stated that since the case is under examination of the court at present, the warrant is available in the case file submitted to the court. However, they could not give any reason as to how disclosure of information (copy of warrant) would in any way impede the process of investigation or prosecution of offender.
View of CIC
The Commission held that the respondent failed to indicate any reason in support of their claim that information in question falls under the exemption category of section 8(1)(h)
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders;
. The Commission allowed the disclosure of information (copy of warrant) to the appellant. The CIC directed the respondent to transfer the request for information of the appellant, along with the order of the CIC to the PIO of the concerned court who would provide the information to the appellant. The Commission also directed the PIO to provide the information regarding the facts and circumstance under which the raid was conducted at the house of the said person and the discrepancy in the dates of conducting the raid and arrest of the accused.
Citation: Ms. Saroj Agrawalla v. Delhi Police in Case No. CIC/SS/A/2012/002732
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1399
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission