Information Commission orders police station video footage be given to appellant - The HinduPublished - July 18, 2026 08:30 pm IST - BENGALURUNagaraju M.R. of Malavalli had filed an application under the Right to Information Act before the Deputy Superintendent of Police concerned on August 4, 2022, seeking CCTV footage of Malavalli Town and Rural police stations from October 10, 2021, to March 31, 2022, in connection with the investigation of a case involving him. | Photo Credit: Getty ImagesIn an interesting case, the Karnataka Information Commission has ordered that video footage from the CCTV cameras installed at a police station be furnished to an appellant.Nagaraju M.R. of Malavalli had filed an application under the Right to Information Act before the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) concerned on August 4, 2022, seeking CCTV footage of Malavalli Town and Rural police stations from October 10, 2021, to March 31, 2022, in connection with the investigation of a case involving him.However, the station officers of both stations had refused to hand over the CCTV footage to him. Although the DySP was required by law to transfer the application to the appropriate public authority, as the matter did not fall under his jurisdiction, he had failed to do so.Instead, he had just written reminder letters to the station heads, said a release by the Karnataka Information Commission. The station heads had issued an endorsement that such video footage cannot be furnished. During the inquiry, they admitted that they had issued such an endorsement following oral instructions from senior officials, stated the release.When the matter came up for hearing before him, Information Commissioner Rudranna Harthikote ordered the police to submit the hard disks containing the video recordings to the FSL for verification. He directed that the CCTV footage showing the appellant’s visits to the police stations for inquiry be provided to him, while the remaining footage be masked.As per the direction, the video footage was provided to the appellant after all instructions were followed, the release said. The commission has warned the heads of the two police stations against violating RTI norms. It has also directed that disciplinary action be initiated against the then DySP, Naveen Kumar, who is currently serving as Additional SP in Ballari. A notice has been issued to him in this regard, and he has replied, claiming that he did not violate any norms. Further proceedings are under way, the release said.Published - July 18, 2026 08:30 pm ISTSign in to unlock member-only benefits!Access 10 free stories every monthSave stories to read laterAccess to comment on every storySign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single clickGet notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products${ ind + 1 } ${ device }Last active - ${ la }