The central information commission (CIC) has ordered the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to disclose names of alleged moles in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet in 1971.
The central information commission (CIC) has ordered the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to disclose names of alleged moles in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet in 1971, when the country went to war with Pakistan.
The order came on a petition by Anuj Dhar, author of Eye on South Asia. Dhar wants details on the ‘leak’ of information relating to national security by an alleged Central Intelligence Agency agent during the war.
The book has details of the case, yet Dhar wants the names and more information on people who were in touch with the CIA and leaked details of the proceedings of the Congress Working Committee.
The MEA had refused to release material to Dhar, claiming the request for information or documents was based on reports of foreign governments, newspapers and books which the government of India did not take cognisance of, as they were
‘unsubstantiated’.
It told Dhar the authorities were obligated to release records or information of only events that have occurred within 20 years of the request.
Information commissioner Annapurna Dixit, who dealt with Dhar’s application, ordered the MEA to provide point-wise information... clearly stating whether the information is available with the ministry against each point, and if available, providing it to Dhar.
If information was available with any other ministry, it had to be obtained and provided to Dhar, Dixit said, by May 6.
There was a country-wide furore over allegations that a senior minister in Gandhi’s cabinet was leaking crucial information to the CIA pertaining to meetings.
Dhar sought photocopies of the records, if any, relating to accusations by American journalist Seymour Hersh in 1983, in his book The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House.
The bestseller alleged that a cabinet minister who later became prime minister had spied for the CIA. The PM concerned filed a defamation case against the journalist in a US court and stood vindicated. Dhar wants records of the case too.
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