Police manual is not confidential, rules info chief

Times of India: Mumbai: Tuesday, March 26, 2013.

Chief information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad has set at rest the prolonged debate over whether the police manual is confidential or otherwise. In a landmark order on Monday, Gaikwad held that within the meaning of the Right to Information Act, the police manual is not a confidential document and a copy of it should be provided to applicant P K Tiwari.

"The police manual does not fall within the category of documents, which have been exempted from disclosure. The applicant should be allowed to inspect the manual and provided the relevant papers. The director general of police should put up the entire police manual on the website of the state police within a month,'' Gaikwad said in his two-page order.

Tiwari had on October 18, 2012, sought specific information on the police manual. Then he was told to secure the copy of the manual from the government printing press and that it's a priced publication. The press officials informed him that the police manual is not in stock. Subsequently, when he again knocked at the doors of the information officer, he was informed that the police manual is a confidential document and that it was not possible to part with it.

When Tiwari knocked at Gaikwad's doors, he held that under Section 8 of the RTI Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interest of the state, relation with foreign state or lead to incitement of an offence. It also covers information, which is expressly forbidden to be published by any court of law or tribunal or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court. Besides, information, the disclosure of which would cause a breach of privilege of the parliament or state legislature is also under its purview. Information received in confidence from foreign government or cabinet papers, including records of deliberations of the council of ministers, secretaries and officers or information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders is also covered.

"Taking into consideration the provisions of Section 8 of the RTI Act, it appears that refusal to provide the police manual is wrong. The view taken by the public information officer is contrary to the spirit of the RTI Act. It is essential for the common man to know the provisions of the police manual. Competent authorities should put up all such information on the website in larger public interest,'' Gaikwad observed.