CIC imposes Rs 10,000 penalty on ESIC dental college official over missing CCTV footage in ragging case

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on Sovan Bera, Deputy Director and deemed Public Information Officer (PIO) of ESIC Dental College and Hospital, Rohini, Delhi, for failing to provide CCTV footage which was required under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in connection with an alleged ragging incident involving female students.

This comes after Gaurav Singhal, Vice-President of anti-ragging NGO Society Against Violence in Education (S.A.V.E.), filed an RTI application on October 22, 2024, seeking CCTV footage from October 12 to October 19, 2024. He asked for footages from common areas including corridors, canteens, classrooms, hallways, cafeterias and other places where students gather during lunch hours. CIC order states that the footage was sought in connection with 'a serious ragging incident involving alleged violations of women’s rights.'

Delay in RTI reply

The Commission observed that the RTI reply was furnished after 48 days, which exceeds the mandatory 30-day period prescribed under the RTI Act. The application was transferred to the Deputy Director (Administration) nearly 30 days after filing, despite Section 6(3) of the RTI Act mandating transfer within five days.

During the hearing, officials stated that the CCTV footage from October 12 to October 19, 2024 was no longer available in the Network Video Recorder (NVR) system.

The Commission observed that the delay in processing the RTI application resulted in the unavailability of the requested footage and shared that no satisfactory explanation had been provided for the delay.

Violation of DCI CCTV preservation norms

The complainant had also informed the Commission about a Dental Council of India (DCI) directive dated November 15, 2016, which requires dental colleges to preserve CCTV footage for six months. However, the CIC observed that the college failed to preserve the CCTV for required duration. The Commission also noted that multiple officers appeared to be “shifting responsibility onto each other” regarding the deletion and non-availability of the footage.

Earlier during proceedings, the Commission had directed the authorised representative of the CPIO to submit an affidavit explaining why the CCTV footage had been deleted within a month. However, the affidavit was not filed. The CIC subsequently observed that the denial of information reflected a “mala fide intention” to withhold information in violation of the RTI Act.

‘Mental anguish’ due to missing evidence

In its final order dated May 5, 2026, the Commission said the non-availability of the footage caused “mental anguish and distress” to the complainant. She required the evidence to approach the National Commission for Women alleging women’s rights violations. The CIC held Sovan Bera liable for denial of information and directed that the Rs 10,000 penalty be recovered from his salary in two instalments of Rs 5,000 each beginning June 2026.