Call Detail Records of Special Task Force Officers should not be made public unless indispensable, so as to ensure safety of officers and their informers: Delhi HC

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Read Judgment: Dinesh Kumar @ Dina vs. State, NCT of Delhi

Pankaj Bajpai

New Delhi, December 8, 2021: The Delhi High Court has held that in order to ensure the safety of the officers and their informers, the Call Detail Records (CDRs) of officers of Special Task Force (STF) should not be made public unless it is necessary for the case. 

The Single Judge, Subramonium Prasad, therefore refused to interfere with the order of the Trial Court in refusing the CDRs of SI Mukesh Tyagi, Constable Ashish Kumar, SI Priyanka, Head Constable Rohit Solanki and Constable/Head Constable Ravinder since they were not a part of the raiding team. 

The observation came pursuant to petition challenging the order, whereby the NDPS Special Judge dismissed the application filed by the petitioner u/s 91 of CrPC for summoning the call detail records (CDRs) and location chart and timeline of SI Mukesh Tyagi, Constable Ashish Kumar, SI Priyanka, Head Constable Rohit Solanki and Constable/Head Constable Ravinder. 

After considering the arguments, Justice Prasad noted that what the petitioner is now asking is the CDRs of random officers alleging that they have picked the petitioner from a different place. 

Other than mere ipse dixit of the petitioner, at this juncture, there is nothing to show that the petitioner had been picked up from a different place by a different raiding party, as the CCTV cameras have been directed to be preserved, added the Single Judge. 

Justice Prasad also highlighted that unless it is extremely necessary for the facts of that case the CDRs of the officers of Special Task Force must not be exposed as it would endanger the officers concerned and their informers. 

A perusal of the Status Report indicates that SI Mukesh Tyagi, whose CDRs are now being sought was not a part of the original raiding team, and it is further interesting to note that in the first application u/s 91 CrPC filed by the petitioner, the petitioner had not sought for the CDRs of these officers, added the Single Judge.  

No doubt, out of six names sought for, Head Constable Rohit Solanki and Constable Ashish Kumar are a part of the witnesses in the present case but their role in the present case is that Head Constable Rohit Solanki had deposited the exhibits of the present case in FSL Rohini for expert opinion on 08.12.2020 and the role of Constable Ashish Kumar is that he had collected the FSL result/expert opinion along with exhibits and deposited the same in Malkhana of P.S. Crime Branch, Delhi on 01.02.2021 and, therefore, there is no need to preserve their CDRs”, observed the Court. 

The High Court also found that SI Mukesh Tyagi took over the investigation after the arrest of the petitioner and was not a part of the raiding party and, therefore, his CDRs need not be preserved.  

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