Presently officers of rank of additional Deputy Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police are appointed as Public Information Officers and First Appellate Authorities in Delhi Police. But these high-ranked police-officers have no direct role in handling RTI applications and First appeals. These over-busy officers have to act just like post-office in responding to RTI applications and First Appeals on basis of inputs received from sub-ordinate offices. They have to unnecessarily spend their precious duty-hours along with a contingent of lower-ranked police-persons in hearings at Central Information Commission CIC. Best is to appoint Inspector-rank police-officers as Public Information Officers, and Assistant Commissioners of Police as First Appellate Authorities.
It is quite usual that nodal office at Police Headquarters transfer all RTI applications to all the police-districts in Delhi from where at times these are further transferred to police-stations which may not have any relation with contents of RTI applications. At times information sought in such multiple transferred RTI applications relates to Police-Headquarter itself. Nodal RTI cell at Delhi Police should ensure transfer of any RTI application to just one concerned district or police-station in tune with DoPT circular dated 24.09.2010 which prohibits transfer of an RTI application to more than one public-authority. In case, information relates to multiple districts or police-stations, applicant can bed to file separate RTI applications to each such district or police-station from which information is desired to be sought.
SUBHASH CHANDRA AGRAWAL
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