Delhi based RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal had sought information on official communication related to riots in Dec 2013.
Jyotika Cheema for BeyondHeadlines
Delhi based renowned RTI activist and Guinness record holder, Subhash Chandra Agrawal has finally received a negative response from the Prime Minister Office after an inordinate delay of fifteen months for an RTI filed dated December 16, 2013.
The purpose of filing this RTI under the RTI Act-2005 was to seek some crucial information related to the Gujarat riots also known as Gujrat pogrom. These riots emerged in the state after some train passengers were burned alive at Godhra in a train on February 27, 2002.
The RTI application sought information related to official communication amongst some senior government officials at the helm of affairs at that time when the unfortunate incident took place in the history of the nation. The black period has been continuously quoted by almost all the scholars and practitioners from different professions throughout the country, analyzing the face of secular rights practiced within the democratic walls of this nation.
Agrawal in a detailed RTI questionnaire has sought complete details of official correspondence which took place between the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other officials at PMO with the Gujarat CM Narendra Modi between 27.02.2002 and 30.04.2002, chiefly related to the Gujrat riots.
The RTI also enquired the official conversation between CM Modi and other Union officials, the then authorities and also the official dialogue which took place among PM Shri Vajpayee and the officials of the state government.
The Gujarat Government, however has replied in the negative in an official communication which was received by Agrawal on March 3, 2015, after almost fifteen months from the filing date. The replies for all the important points raised under this RTI have been finally denied, through a very late response (the actual entitled period of thirty days) sent by the CPIO invoking section 11 of RTI Act, holding objections of the concerned so-termed third parties in this regard against sharing information justified.
Agrawal is now in the process of filing the first petition under the described process of RTI. He stated that he understands that section 8(1)(h) of RTI Act prohibits information which might impede process of investigation but making such information public through this RTI petition can never impede any process of investigation now when it’s been more than thirteen years to this issue for which there have been reports of several enquiry-commissions which have been publicized.
This is surely a very unfortunate aspect of the decade where filing an RTI and having an urge to know things is still not catered properly by the government and the point to be focused is, ‘if it is this difficult to get such important threads related to this incident then how trustworthy is RTI Act? And do we really have any sensible right to raise our voice or it is only a gadget in ones’ hand with someone else holding the remote?, Agrawal questioned.
