The Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the Indian Army to reveal if an inquiry was conducted in the incident of a female TV reporter’s coverage of the 1999 Kargil war.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the Indian Army to reveal if an inquiry was conducted in an incident wherein a female TV reporter’s coverage of the 1999 Kargil war allegedly compromised safety of the army personnel.
The order came on an appeal filed by RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal who had asked the army if “some extra casualties occurred at the war site during Indo-Pak Kargil war in/around the year 1999 because of a defiant move of a TV reporter which insisted on giving a flash-light for the TV coverage in the night resulting in guiding Pakistani army for the exact location to be bombed”. He had also asked if any inquiry was conducted in the incident, and a copy of the inquiry report.
The army refused to divulge any information stating that “the request amounts to seeking clarifications and investigations based on hypothetical assumptions/ heresay”. It was not an information defined under the RTI Act, it said.
Aggrieved, Agrawal approached CIC. However, information commissioner ML Sharma agreed with the army’s view.
Agrawal then reduced his queries and asked only for a copy of the report of inquiry, if the army had ordered any, and name of the TV reporter and channel in question. He did not press for details of the enhanced casualties or the possibility of helping the enemy army in spotting the targets. Neither did he seek details regarding official permission or the formulation of any guidelines subsequent to this high profile incident.
On this, Sharma ordered, “Now that the appellant has scaled down his requirements, we deem it expedient to remand the matter to CPIO (Central Public Information Officer) of the Indian Army to revisit the matter and disclose the information as per the provisions of the RTI Act.” CIC asked the army to comply with the order before October 31.
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