RTI Happenings: Rajasthan requests Gopalgarh panel not to disclose “facts, truths” under RTI

[akhilesh yadav]

Rajasthan requests Gopalgarh panel not to disclose “facts, truths” under RTI

Reported in thehindu.com on 02 august 2012
The Hindu : Today's Paper / NATIONAL : Rajasthan requests Gopalgarh panel not to disclose


Controversial affidavit filed along with reply to Commission’s notice

In a move that has left many here astounded, the Congress-led Government has filed an affidavit before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry probing the Gopalgarh violence of September 14 last year with a request not to disclose “facts and truths” to anyone under the Right to Information Act and other legal provisions.

The ruling Congress in Rajasthan has been facing the heat of the gruesome violence in the nondescript Gopalgarh town of Bharatpur district, where police resorted to indiscriminate firing on a mosque and killed 10 Meo Muslims on September 14, 2011, in the wake of their dispute with local Gujjars over a graveyard land. The Commission of Inquiry, headed by retired Rajasthan High Court Judge Sunil Kumar Garg, is probing the facts and circumstances relating to the violence as well as the role of police and district administration in the events. The Central Bureau of Investigation is handling the criminal cases separately.

In its controversial affidavit, filed along with its reply to the Commission’s notice recently, the State Government said the anti-social elements could use the information cited in the reply to “foment trouble and disrupt social harmony”.

“The same elements could use this information to affect the process of ongoing investigation and trial in various courts,” the affidavit added.

The affidavit pointed out that the reply of the State contains several facts and truths which could have a bearing on law and order in the entire area. The incident had created a lot of social tension in the Bharatpur region, it noted. With these contentions, the affidavit requested the Commission to disallow any information to “all concerned” under the RTI and other similar provisions.

Commission Secretary T. P. Gupta told The Hindu here on Wednesday that a final view on the State Government’s request was yet to be taken. “The Commission will first hear the counsel representing the two other parties, Meos and Gujjars, before deciding the issue.

”While the Commission, appointed in October last year initially for three months, has been given an extension for six months, the State Government’s reply to the panel’s notice came after a delay of four months. The Commission gave four adjournments of a month each to the Government counsel to enable him to get instructions and file the reply.

Muslim groups here have expressed shock and outrage over the State Government seeking exemption from the RTI queries and said this stand not only goes against the Government’s own tall claims of transparency and accountability but also amounts to frustrating the process of justice.

“Every single step of the [ruling] Congress since the horrific police firing smacks of its bias and prejudice. The policemen who sprayed the mosque with bullets are roaming freely. Victims are endlessly waiting for justice,” said Rajasthan Muslim Forum convenor Qari Moinuddin, wondering what was the Congress trying to hide.

Irada Society president Mohammed Hasan said bringing all facts about violence into the public domain will not only facilitate a fair and impartial probe but also convince the public about the sincerity of the government machinery. Incidentally, the Gujarat Government has been filing such affidavits in various judicial forums since the 2002 violence.

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind national secretary M. Salim Engineer felt that the State Government wanted to conceal certain facts on the pretext of their impact on law and order because it knew of their “political ramifications”.

“This is the same government which reinstated the suspended Collector and Superintendent of Police without waiting for the Commission’s findings,” he said.

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'Cautious' govt asks Gopalgarh panel not to make details public


Reported by Daily.bhaskar.com on Aug 02, 2012
'Cautious' govt asks Gopalgarh panel not to make details public - daily.bhaskar.com

Jaipur: Wary of the consequences of an information leak in the Gopalgarh riots case, the state government sent an affidavit to the Justice Sunil Kumar Garg Commission.

In the affidavit, the government has pleaded before the commission that till the inquiry is not completed information should not be revealed under Right to Information (RTI) Act.

“The state’s reply contains facts which could have a bearing on the law and order situation of the entire area. Many anti-social elements could use the cited information to foment trouble and disrupt social harmony. Moreover, they could also use this information to affect the process of ongoing investigation and trial in various courts. You are, therefore, requested to disallow giving any information the concerned under RTI Act or other similar provisions”: states an excerpt from the affidavit filed by the home department.

Significantly, the government also delayed filing of its reply by four months. The initial date given by the commission was January 4, 2012, but the government got four extensions of one month each to submit its reply.

When contacted, secretary to the commission, TP Gupta, accepted receiving the government’s affidavit, but said they are yet to decide whether they’d act on it or not. “We will decide after we get reply from Meo Muslims and the Gurjars,” the secretary added.

Reacting sharply on the government’s affidavit, a senior member of Rajasthan Muslim Forum, which is fighting for Meo’s interests, Professor Hasan, said, “All these steps make clear that government does not want transparency in the process and not only is it trying to create distraction, but protect the culprits also.”

“Government is trying to avoid transparency. These steps create suspicion about government’s intention, people wonder if they’ll get justice,” said Himmat Singh, a prominent Gurjar leader.