Information Commission asks UP police to effectly implement RTI

Lucknow, Sep 7 (UNI) Following large scale complaints, the state Information Commission has asked the Uttar Pradesh police to effectively implement the Right to Information Act.

The Commission issued the directives following complaints that the state police had not been sharing information of public importance to the common man who had been approaching the department through the RTI Act.

The directives, which has been received by the DGP office here, have asked the police to develop a work plan to ensure that the various provisions of the RTI Act effectively.

Last week, a group of family members of the infamous Hashimpura custodial deaths had approached Chief Information Commissioner M A Khan alleging that the police nodal officers had not provided them with copies of the annual confidential reports (ACRs) of at least two police personnel involved in the May, 1987 incident.

The Commission has instructed the state police to facilitate smooth processing of information sought by the applicants within a fixed period of time. The flow of information should be ensured at the police station, district, division and state headquarters level, the Commission has said.

The Commission has also asked the DGP to appoint station house officers (SHOs) or senior sub-inspectors as public information officers at the police station level in all the 70 districts.

UNI