Times
of India: Ahmedabad: Sunday, 22 November 2015.
The city
police advised a lawyer who had sought information under Right to Information
Act (RTI), to purchase law books and find out what he was looking for. The
lawyer had sought information under RTI about the powers and duties of a police
station officer (PSO) in the city's police stations.
Last month,
the citybased lawyer Imtiyazkhan Pathan filed an RTI application with police
commissioner seeking a list of powers and duties assigned to a PSO in the city.
He questioned what a PSO was expected to do when a complainant approached him
with a complaint, and what was the remedy if the PSO did not accept his
complaint.
Public
information officer (PIO) at the city police commissioner, D M Chavda, wrote
back to Pathan earlier this month: "The information sought under RTI
application is available in books of law. Such books are available at law book
stalls."
The advice by
the poli ce commissioner's office to refer to law books has surprised the
lawyer.
"Does
this mean that any information pertaining to law and ma nuals cannot be
provided under RTI? How do we get to know whether there is any change in
assignments to officials that hold such an important position of dealing with
public?" said Pathan.
The applicant
told the TOI that it becomes necessary for lawyers to seek such information
under RTI because the officers do not discharge their duties in the proper
manner. They ignore rules despite the fact that advocates constantly remind
them of the law to protect the interest and rights of their clients.
"It is
also not proper for us to ta ke up each and every issue pertaining to police
behaviour in the courtroom when we can compel an officer to perform his duty by
pointing out the law. In such circumstances, the chart of instructions or any
advisory in this regard issued by higher ups come handy to remind police
officers about their duty," advocate Pathan said.
"If the
PIO wanted to give such a vague answer, he should have, at least, referred to
the name of the book," said the lawyer, who now plans to approach an
appellate authority against this casual answer.
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