records: MHANew Delhi, Nov 12 (PTI) Where are crucial records relatedto the 1993 N N Vohra committee report, constituted to probelinks among organised criminals, mafia and politicians?According to former Central Information CommissionerShailesh Gandhi, an RTI application filed by him seekinginformation on this has kept changing hands in variousdepartments of the union home ministry for last two years withevery department telling him that data is not held by them.
Gandhi has sought a copy of the committee report alongwith all the annexures and note sheets.
The Central Information Commission had directed theinternal security wing of the ministry to gather informationfrom the department where the application has been held andprovide it to Gandhi.
But even after the direction, the department, where ithas been transferred to, has responded that it only has thereport but no annexures or note sheets are available.
The committee constituted in the aftermath of the 1993Mumbai serial blasts was chaired by the then home secretary NN Vohra, who is currently governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
With members from the RAW, the Intelligence Bureau andthe CBI, it was tasked with taking stock of all availableinformation about the activities of the crime syndicates/mafiaorganisations which had developed links with, and were beingprotected by government functionaries and politicalpersonalities.
The committee had submitted its report in October, 1993.
"I had filed this RTI application in November, 2015. Theapplication was being transferred from one department toanother for over 150 days with every department telling methat the information was not held with them," Gandhi told PTIover phone.
In his appeal with the Central Information Commissionfiled last year, Gandhi said, "the First appellate authority(of home ministry) has also not applied his mind and blandlystated that the concerned desk does not have the information,and does not know who has it! This makes a complete joke ofthe provisions of the RTI Act.""... The Commission, in a plethora of orders, has heldthat it is only when the information sought is held by anotherpublic authority or the subject matter is connected with thefunctions of another public authority, can the CPIO transferthe RTI application to the other public authority.
"Otherwise, the CPIO has to provide the informationsought for to the information seeker," InformationCommissioner Sudhir Bhargava said in a recent order.
Agreeing with the arguments of Gandhi, Bhargava said theofficer instead of transferring the RTI application to anotherdesk of the MHA should have sought assistance of any otherofficer in the ministry, under Section 5(4) of the RTI Act,for the proper discharge of his duties.
"The commission, therefore, directs Shri Mukesh Mangal,Director (IS-1), MHA to obtain information from the concerneddivision of the MHA and furnish it to the appellant within aperiod of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy ofthis order," he said.
After the order, the internal security department hasclaimed it has found a 13-page report but the annexures andother details as sought by Gandhi are not in its records. PTIABS ZMNRCJ.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.