The Karnataka High Court stated that a person accused cannot be compelled to submit an RTI application to get a document they are entitled to under Section 91 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The Karnataka High Court decided that a person accused in a criminal case should not have to use the Right to Information Act (RTI Act) to get documents they can already request under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for their defense. This ruling came while the court was helping Dr. Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, the leader of the Jagadguru Murugarajendra Vidyapeetha Mutt in Chitradurga. He had asked the Cottonpet police for certain documents to aid in his defense during a sexual harassment trial. However, the trial court denied his request, suggesting he could obtain the documents through an RTI application, which led him to seek help from the High Court.

Justice M Nagaprasanna stated that the trial court’s rejection was clearly wrong, as Section 91 of the CrPC does not require an accused to use the RTI Act to get documents when they can directly ask for them. Advocate BK Swamy represented the petitioner, while Additional Special Public Prosecutor BN Jagadeesha represented the Respondent. The High Court found the trial court’s ruling to be “illegal” and stressed that it is not right for an accused to depend on the RTI Act for documents they can request directly under Section 91 of the CrPC. The Court made it clear that Section 91 allows the accused to ask for necessary documents from the prosecution without needing to go through extra steps like filing an RTI application.

The High Court canceled the trial court’s decision and supported Sharanaru’s request under Section 91 of the CrPC. The Court instructed the prosecution to provide the requested documents at the right time during the trial.

Cause Title: Dr. Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru v. State of Karnataka & Anr., [2025:KHC:6434]