Jailbirds take wing with RTI

Tihar jail undertrials are using the RTI to question the authenticity of prosecution evidence in court.

Tihar jail undertrials are using the RTI to question the authenticity of prosecution evidence in court.

HT Image

The Delhi police supposedly picked up Baldev Singh (name changed), lodged in Tihar jail, in the Rohini area, but according to the jail inmate, the place of his arrest was Moradabad, UP.

To prove his contention, Singh has filed an RTI application, asking the police for the names of those involved in his arrest and their call details. If his point turns out to be correct, the police may lose their case.

Sources said about 30% of such applications were by undertrials themselves.

“These RTIs may not be helpful in acquittal but they have a nuisance value,” said Somesh Arora, a lawyer.

An officer said: “Almost every (police) district receives more than 500 RTI applications a month and nearly 100 of them are filed from Tihar jail itself.

The most frequent questions asked are: ‘From where and when was I arrested’, ‘what was recovered from me’, and ‘who were the members in the police team who went on raid’.”