Uttar Pradesh: A bench of the State Information Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh, headed by Mohammad Nadeem, has given an important ruling on the demand for footage of hospitals under the Right to Information (RTI). As per the new ruling, CCTV footage of hospitals can only be given if it is part of a police investigation and court order.
Hospital CCTV footage cannot be disclosed solely at the request of a private individual. In its ruling, the authority emphasised that hospitals are public health institutions with a constant flow of patients, attendants, doctors and staff. Any surveillance footage from such premises would inevitably capture the movements and activities of numerous individuals other than the one who has requested the same, thereby making its release a serious breach of privacy.
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It further observed that the Right to Information Act does not permit an invasion of privacy without justifiable cause, and an individual cannot be allowed to compromise the privacy of hundreds of others merely to support a personal complaint.
Are There Any Exceptions To This Rule?
The Information Commissioner has, however, made an exception to this law. Footage can be furnished in cases where the disclosure does not infringe upon the privacy of any third party. The Commissioner made it clear that requests for footage to support routine or personal complaints are not maintainable under the RTI framework.
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The ruling came during the hearing of an appeal filed by Kulwant Singh seeking CCTV footage from a hospital in Bijnor district. The order noted that even if allegations of medical fraud are correct, their verification requires a formal police probe or judicial scrutiny, and the RTI Act cannot be used as a substitute for an investigation or trial.