AHMEDABAD: In a game-changing decision, the Gujarat State Information Commission has slammed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) (Crime) for hiding behind a 19-year-old RTI exemption to deny critical information to cyber fraud victims.
The Commission has now recommended the state government revoke the special immunity granted to CID Crime regarding cyber fraud cases—delivering a major win for transparency and the rights of hundreds of duped citizens.
The exemption, in effect since October 25, 2005, under a Home Department notification, placed CID Crime beyond the purview of the Right to Information Act for crime-related investigations.
However, the recent judgment has pierced this shield in the context of cybercrime, which the Commission argued is no longer a conventional “sensitive crime” but a rapidly escalating public menace impacting citizens daily.
The ruling stemmed from a plea by Rakesh Kumar Prajapati, a Gandhinagar resident who lost Rs 4.5 lakh to cyber fraud. After filing a complaint with the Cyber Crime Cell, Prajapati sought the FIR copy and related documents under the RTI Act. CID Crime rejected his request, citing the 2005 exemption.
Unwilling to accept silence in the face of theft, Prajapati took the matter to the State Information Commission.
Presiding over the case, Information Commissioner Nikhil Bhatt issued a sharp rebuke to CID Crime's blanket denial. In his remarks, Bhatt stressed that while CID handles sensitive investigations, cyber fraud—now affecting thousands of citizens daily—demands a different approach.
“When a person becomes a victim of digital theft, they want to know what steps were taken, what progress was made, and whether they will ever recover their money. Denying this under the guise of secrecy is unjustifiable,” Bhatt noted.
He emphasised that neither police stations nor CID’s cyber cell offers victims even the basic visibility into the status of their complaints. This, he argued, amounts to a denial of the fundamental right to know, protected under the RTI Act.
Going beyond the individual case, the Commission invoked its powers under Section 25(3)(g) of the RTI Act to recommend structural reforms. It has urged the state government to amend the 2005 notification, specifically withdrawing exemptions for cyber fraud data from CID Crime, Local Crime Branches, and other crime branches across Gujarat.
This ruling could potentially dismantle a long-standing wall of bureaucratic opacity and mark a critical step toward greater accountability in cybercrime investigations. If the state government acts on the recommendation, victims like Prajapati will no longer be left in the dark—and the CID may finally be held answerable in the digital age.