Recently, in the case of State of Maharashtra v. Chief Information Commissioner [W.P. (C) No. 9971 of 2013, decided on 19.04.2018], it has been held by the Bombay High Court that the Police Manual of Maharashtra state is a public document. The High Court upheld the decision of the Chief Information Commissioner under the RTI Act that copy of the Police Manual should be made available to the private person who had made a request for the same. In fact, the Chief Information Commissioner had also held that, being a public document, a copy of the same should be placed on the website of the police department. The High Court dismissed an appeal filed against the decision of the Chief Information Commissioner.
Thus, the legal position in this regard is that the Police Manual is a public document and therefore, private persons can have access thereto.
CBI Crime Manual is also similar to the Police Manual of a state police. Therefore, the CBI Crime Manual can also be said to be a public document.
Previously, it used to be available online on the website of the CBI website. You may have to check it thoroughly on the CBI website to find out whether it is available now (there does not appear to be a visible link on its website). I noticed that it is being hosted online by some private websites too. You can search online by the searching “CBI Crime Manual”. If it is not available online, then you may request the CBI under the RTI Act for a copy of the same, by agreeing to pay its price as required under the RTI Act. You may cite the Bombay High Court judgment in the above case to buttress your case.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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