NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission has ruled that medico-legal case (MLC) reports cannot be strictly categorised as personal information and should be disclosed if demanded by the victim at any stage.
The commission, while allowing the plea of a victim of an accident to access reports of other injured persons in the same mishap said, “In any eventuality, the MLC reports and other records assume importance in establishing negligence or otherwise, which will be useful for claiming insurance money by the injured persons and deceased person.” The case is related to an RTI request by Satbir Singh, who lost his son in an accident.
Singh had demanded medico-legal reports of other persons who were injured in the same accident.
Rao Tula Ram Memorial Hospital provided a partial reply to the queries posed by him and did not disclose medico-legal reports of two other injured, saying their views have been sought for disclosing details as it was personal information under the RTI Act.
But even after a year, the two accused persons did not give clearance for disclosing the reports about them when Singh approached the Commission with a plea.
“In this case, all the injured persons are involved in the same accident, they could be accused and their negligence or innocence needs to be established in the court of law. Hence, MLC and related information cannot be treated as third party information or personal information,” a CIC Bench held.
The CIC also stated that there is public interest in giving such information to the father of the deceased for whatever worth it is for him, in the interests of criminal justice.
“If the disclosure of this information to the appellant impedes investigation in any manner, only then the information can be withheld,” the CIC said.
The commission, though, said that police approval should also be taken if required.