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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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
