RTI violation: CIC penalises ESIC official in ragging case

NEW DELHI: Central Information Commission (CIC) has imposed a Rs 10,000 penalty on an official of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Dental College and Hospital in Rohini for failing to provide CCTV footage linked to an alleged ragging incident involving women students in Oct 2024.Coming down heavily on the institution’s handling of the matter, information commissioner Ashutosh Chaturvedi observed that “the custodian of information failed to ensure that crucial digital evidence relating to a reported ragging incident was preserved”. The commission further took note of the “mental anguish and distress” caused to the complainant due to the non-availability of the footage, which could have been a critical evidence in approaching National Commission for Women for grievance redressal.The matter stems from allegations that several women students were ragged by their seniors between Oct 12 and 19, 2024, on the college premises. Following the incident, Gaurav Singhal, vice-president of Society Against Violence in Education, filed an RTI application on Oct 22 before the Central Public Information Officer, Sovan Bera, seeking CCTV footage from specific locations in the college during lunch hours on the relevant dates.However, despite RTI Act mandating a response within 30 days, the reply was furnished after a delay of 48 days. In the response, the official stated that the requested footage was “unavailable" as the CCTV system stored recordings for only one month, and the footage had already been overwritten by the time the reply was sent.The commission found the explanation unsatisfactory and noted that no valid reason was furnished for the non-availability of the footage despite the RTI application having been filed within the preservation period.It further observed that, as per Dental Council of India’s mandate, “all dental colleges are obligated to preserve CCTV footage for six months”. ESIC, however, failed to preserve the same, and this noncompliance was highlighted by the tribunal, observing that the "requisite CCTV footage was not preserved/maintained for the specified period”.ESIC was also criticised for the conduct of the officials involved, with the commission observing that “multiple officers appear to be shifting responsibility onto each other”. It held that Bera “acted without reasonable cause and has obstructed the furnishing of information”, denoting it to be a violation of the statutory obligations under RTI Act.