Can a person be allowed to inspect the case papers in a case where he is allegedly the accused, under RTI?

PANJIM: Can a person be allowed to inspect the case papers in a case where he is allegedly the accused, under RTI? Yes, is the answer of the Goa State Information Commission (GSIC), which has directed PIO to provide access to all papers to the alleged accused.

However, Goa police doesn't agree with it. Alleging that allowing the accused to see the station files would actually set a bad precedent for other cases, they have approached the High Court. In their petition, the Public Information Officer (PIO), SP South Shekhar Prabhudesai has challenged the GSIC's order of April 20, 2007, by which the Commission had directed the police to provide access to all papers to Joao Pereira in the inquiry file of one Surjit Borkar.



After hearing the matter, the single bench of Justice R.S.Mohite, pending the hearing and final disposal of the petition stayed the execution of GSIC's judgment dated April 20, 2007. It is returnable within 4 weeks.

Pereira, on August 30, 2006, had applied to the PIO seeking inspection of all files on complaint of JC Pereira and N Fernandes from the records of Verna police station and also the complaint filed by Surjit Borkar on September 5, 2005. On September 25, the PIO partly allowed request.

When Pereira demanded that he be shown the case diaries pertaining to a specific case, the request was turned down as he is an accused in the same case and has been booked under section 341, 504, 506 (ii) r/w 34 IPC and is facing trial in the Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Margao. Even the PIO instructed PI Verna to refuse the request of Pereira under section 8 (H) of RTI Act, 2005.

Aggrieved, he moved the Goa State Information Commission, which directed the PIO to provide access to all papers to Pereira on April 20.

However, counsel for PIO, Winnie Coutinho argued that the Commission has overlooked the provision of section 172 of CrPC, sub-Section 3 of Section 172 expressly prohibits the accused to have any access to the Police diary, except under limited circumstances, which is not there in the present case.

The petitioner sought to know from the High Court whether the Commission ought to have taken into consideration that the information sought was exempted under sec 8(1)(g) and (h) of the RTI Act and whether information contained in a case diary maintained under section 172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure can be obtained by making an application under RTI?

Further, Coutinho argued that allowing such an appeal would set a bad precedent for other cases and the Commission ought to have considered that station diary is an official communication in discharging policing duty and as such a police officer as a Public officer shall not be compelled to disclose communication made to him.

(Article by Preetu Nair appeared in Gomantak Times, Panjim edition, Goa dated September 09,2007