Inquiry reports on 13 communal riots since 1961 'not available', CIC asks MHA for status
New Delhi, Dec 30 : The Central Information Commission has directed the Home Secretary to depute an official to find out the status of 13 inquiry commission reports on communal riots in the country since 1961, which Home Ministry officials claimed the MHA did not have.
Information Commissioner Bimal Julka's directions came while hearing a plea by RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj, who sought to know from the ministry, information on complete reports (including all volumes and annexure) of various inquiry commissions or judicial commissions on communal riots.
The CIC directed Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba to depute a senior official to find out the status of the 13 reports, which are not available on the ministry's website as well.
In 2006, the ministry had constituted a working group of National Integration Council to study the reports of judicial and inquiry commissions appointed over the years to investigate communal riots, Bhardwaj said.
The group studied 29 such reports, she said, adding she could not find 13 of them, relating to riots between 1961-2003, on the website of the ministry and filed an RTI plea to get a copy of those.
Through her application, she wanted reports of the Shiv Dayal Shrivastava commission on the 1961 Madhya Pradesh riots, the Justice Raghubar Dayal commission on the 1967 Bihar riots, the Justice P J Reddy commission on the 1969 Gujarat riots, the Prasad commission on the 1974 Delhi riots, the Justice V S Dave Commission on the 1985 Gujarat riots.
She also sought reports of the Justice P S Malvankar Commission on the 1986 Maharashtra riots, the Justice Haridas Das Commission on the 1988 West Bengal riots, the R H Heeraman Singh on the 1990 Andhra Pradesh riots, the Justice N L Tiberwal Commission on the 1990 Rajasthan riots.
Besides, sher had also asked for the Justice K K Dubey Commission on the 1992 Madhya Pradesh riots, the Justice P R Gokulkrishnan Commission on the Tamil Nadu riots in 1998, the Justice Anant D Mane Commission on the 1999 Maharahtra riots and the Thomas P Joseph commission on the 2003 Kerala riots.
Information Commissioner Julka said, "While 16 of the reports are already on website, information about remaining 13 of them have been sought by the appellant since they were not on web site."
It is an admitted fact the MHA had constituted a committee to study the reports of judicial commissions and inquiry commissions about the anatomy of communal riots, he noted.
The MHA had constituted this committee to study the reports and during the hearing the respondents from the MHA stated no such report was submitted before them, he said.
"Respondent (MHA) has neither provided information nor transferred the RTI application. In fact, it is seen that the respondent has not even furnished any reasonable justification for such complete inaction," he said.
In a stern observation, Julka said the issue raised by Bhardwaj involves larger public interest and thus the conduct of the public information officer (PIO) of the MHA is found "totally unacceptable".
The "unexplained, unreasoned but consistent" approach of the respondent of shirking their role as custodian of information, and casual approach of the PIO is defeating the purpose of transparency and administration of the RTI regime, he observed.
He directed the Home Secretary to depute a senior official to look into the issue and submit a detailed report within 15 days carrying specific details like complete status of the 13 reports and reasons for them not being uploaded on the web site.
It should also contain who is the actual custodian of these reports, why application was not transferred to the authority holding information and why punitive action be not initiated for causing deliberate obstruction to the flow and dissemination of information and violation of the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005, he has asked.
This is not the first case where the Commission -- the highest adjudicating authority on the RTI matters -- has pulled up the Home Ministry for "obstruction" of flow of information.
In a separate case, the ministry had not produced the report of the then CRPF Inspector General Rajnish Rai on alleged fake encounter in Assam which the Commission had sought to be produced for its perusal so as to decide on its disclosure.
The then Information Commissioner Yashovardhan Azad had said that in case records are not produced penal proceedings can be initiated against him for obstructing the process of "adjudication" of the Commission and causing obstruction to the flow of information.
"Under the RTI Act, no records can be withheld from this Commission under any pretext," the order had said.
It had said the CIC has statutory power which has also been acknowledged by the Supreme Court.
"The unusual resistance exhibited by the MHA in producing the records before the Commission cannot be countenanced and the Commission perceives the same to be a direct onslaught on the RTI regime," it had said.
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Kerala court sentences man to life imprisonment for doc's murder in hospital
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Kollam (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".
Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.
Kollam Additional District and Sessions judge P N Vinod sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2.35 lakh on the convict.
Though the prosecution had sought death penalty for the accused during the arguments on sentence, the court was of the view that the case does not fall under the rarest-of-rare category to warrant the maximum punishment.
It was also of the view that there was a chance of the convict getting reformed as he told the court that the rest of his life would be one of repentance, the order on sentence said.
"At the same time, I agree with the stand of the prosecution to the effect that the sentence should commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the sentence should not only be reformative, but should also have a deterrent effect."
"In my view, the said objective can be achieved by directing that the term sentences that will be imposed will run consecutively and life sentence that has to be imposed will commence only after the expiration of terms sentences," the judge said.
After the verdict, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G Padickal told reporters outside the court that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.
The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but that he cannot authoritatively say whether his late daughter has got justice. He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.
Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given. She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.
She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".
The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.
A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and another person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
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