Yes, this is not only legally safe but is a recognised and often necessary step to protect your interests, whether you're the complainant wanting to ensure evidence supporting your case isn't lost, or the accused wanting to ensure evidence that might support your defence is properly preserved rather than being overlooked or allowed to lapse.

There's no legal prohibition or risk in directly requesting the investigating officer to preserve specific digital evidence relevant to the case, and in fact, this is a normal and expected part of engaging with an ongoing investigation. Under Section 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Section 91 CrPC), the investigating officer already has the authority to issue notices to third parties (such as telecom companies, banks, or online platforms) requiring them to produce or preserve specific documents or data relevant to the investigation, and bringing specific evidence to the officer's attention and requesting they exercise this power is a legitimate and constructive way to assist the investigation, not something that could expose you to any legal risk.

That said, there are a few practical considerations worth understanding to make sure your request is both effective and doesn't inadvertently create complications. First, put your request in writing rather than relying solely on a verbal request during a station visit, since a written request creates a clear record that you specifically asked for preservation, which becomes important later if the evidence is subsequently found to have been lost or deleted despite your request, potentially supporting an argument that the investigation was deficient if this evidence turns out to be significant. Your written request should specifically identify the evidence you're concerned about (such as a specific phone number's call records for a defined period, a specific social media account, or CCTV footage from a specific location and time window), since vague or general requests are harder for the investigating officer to act upon effectively and quickly.

Second, if you're the accused, it's worth being thoughtful about what you're specifically requesting and why, ideally coordinating this through your lawyer rather than making requests independently, since your lawyer can frame the request in a way that protects your interests without inadvertently revealing your defence strategy prematurely or making statements that could be used against you. There's no legal barrier to you, through your lawyer, requesting preservation of evidence that you believe will support your defence, but the framing and context of how this request is made matters for your overall strategic position.

Third, if the investigating officer doesn't act on your request promptly, and you have genuine and specific reason to believe the relevant evidence is at risk of being lost or deleted due to normal data retention cycles (many telecom and internet companies retain call records, messages, or location data only for a limited period, often ranging from a few months to a year, depending on the specific type of data and the company's policies), it's worth escalating this specific concern to the Superintendent of Police or, if the matter is already before a court (such as during a bail hearing or in a private complaint), bringing this specific concern to the court's attention, requesting a specific direction for preservation given the time-sensitive nature of digital evidence.

Fourth, if you're the complainant and are concerned the investigating officer isn't taking your preservation request seriously, this is a legitimate concern you can raise as part of a broader complaint about the quality or pace of investigation, similar to the escalation pathways discussed in earlier responses regarding inadequate police investigation generally, including approaching the Superintendent of Police or, in appropriate cases, filing an application under Section 175(3) BNSS (Section 156(3) CrPC) before the Magistrate specifically requesting a direction for proper investigation, which can include a specific direction regarding preservation and collection of the digital evidence you've identified.

It's worth understanding one nuance: while requesting preservation is safe and appropriate, you generally don't have the legal authority yourself to directly compel a third party (like a telecom company or social media platform) to preserve or hand over data, since this authority under Section 94 BNSS rests with the police officer conducting the investigation or with the court, not with a private individual, even one who is a party to the case. This means your role is to bring the specific evidence and the need for its preservation to the attention of the investigating officer or the court, rather than attempting to directly issue such a demand to the third party yourself, though you can certainly send a preservation request letter directly to a platform as an additional protective step (as discussed in the earlier response on this topic), since most major platforms do have their own voluntary preservation request procedures that operate independently of formal legal compulsion, provided your request references the relevant case details appropriately.

Given how the specific and most effective way to request preservation depends on your role in the case (complainant or accused), what specific evidence is at risk, and how quickly you need this action taken, it's worth having your lawyer help frame and follow up on this request appropriately to ensure it's both effective and properly documented. You can reach out to the team at Aapka Legal Advice for guidance on properly requesting and following up on digital evidence preservation in your specific case. If your matter requires an experienced advocate to formally pursue preservation directions from the police or court, this list of Top Criminal Lawyers in India | Aapka Legal Advice can help you find suitable representation.

Conclusion: Requesting preservation of digital evidence directly from the police during an ongoing investigation is entirely legally safe and is, in fact, a constructive and often necessary step to protect relevant evidence from being lost through routine data retention cycles, so putting your request in writing, being specific about exactly what evidence needs preserving, and escalating appropriately if the investigating officer doesn't act promptly, ideally with your lawyer's guidance on framing this request effectively, is the right approach to protecting your interests in the case.