The Central Information Commission has asked the government to produce records related to an alleged mole in the 1971 cabinet of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the death of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent in 1966.
The Central Information Commission has asked the government to produce records related to an alleged mole in the 1971 cabinet of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi and the death of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent in 1966. The commission will study documents to decide if they can be made public.
The decision came on separate RTI applications of Anuj Dhar, author of 'CIA's eye on South Asia', who had sought information regarding an alleged CIA (American intelligence agency) mole in the Indian Cabinet in 1971 leaking information during the Indo Pak war to the United States and about the death of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Sashtri in Tashkent (erstwhile USSR)
The government, however, refused information claiming exemption under Section 8(1) (a) of the RTI Act 2005 that exempts disclosure of information which could effect country's sovereignty, integrity, security and relations with a foreign state. This prompted Dhar to approach the CIC.
During the hearing, Dhar told the CIC that the American government had already declassified similar information which had references to some sources in India leaking information to the Americans during the India-Pakistan war about the briefings given to the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Noting that the information relates to a period now nearly three to four decades old, the CIC chief Satyananda Mishra said: “We would like to see the contents to satisfy ourselves that, indeed, the information is sensitive enough for India's security and foreign relations concerns. It is only after that that it should be possible to decide if the information should be disclosed or not.”
He directed the officials of the prime minister's office and the cabinet secretariat to produce in a sealed envelope the relevant information so that they can decide over its disclosure.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}