The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is set to hand over final reports of the Justice J S Verma and Justice M S Jain Commissions, which probed security lapses and conspiracy behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, to death row convict in the case A G Perarivalan alias Arivu.
However, the MHA is yet to locate the Action Taken Report on the Justice Verma Commission.
The move comes after Arivu fought a long legal battle, using the RTI Act, from the Vellore Central Prison for Men, where he is lodged. He sought the vital documents, which he believes proves his innocence.
After repeated attempts to obtain the information from the MHA fetched no result, he filed an RTI application with the Central Information Commission, which on hearing the application on July 9, issued an order on July 10 directing the MHA to furnish the information sought.
Director (VS) of MHA, Girish Kumar, in a letter to Arivu, dated August 27, 2013, said, “The ministry has compiled the documents as are presently available.” On the missing Action Taken Report, “...efforts are being made to locate the Action Taken Report on Justice J S Verma Commission of Inquiry,” was Kumar’s response.
The MHA will hand over copies of the reports of Justice J S Verma Commission of Inquiry (volume I & II), and Justice M C Jain Commission of Inquiry (in 9 volumes) and the Action Taken Report on the Justice M C Jain Commission of Inquiry, which in total run to 1,818 pages, excluding the portion exempted under RTI Act. Arivu has been asked to pay Rs 3,636 to obtain the photocopies.