Three 1984 anti-Sikh riots reports missing

The 1984 anti-Sikh riots trial is still on, yet the government has no idea where it has kept inquiry reports on the riots filed by three commissions.

This was revealed in response to Delhi-based Suroor Mander’s RTI query filed in January 2010. The government found one report, but decided not to reveal its “secret” contents.

Mander had sought information on reports of Jain-Agarwal Committee, Misra and Marwah Commissions, Narula Committee, Kapur-Mittal and Nanavati Commissions and subsequent action taken by the state and central governments. 

In the case of reports related to the anti-Sikh riots, the Lok Sabha secretariat passed the file to the ministry of home affairs, which in turn gave it to the chief secretary, who transferred it to the divisional commissioner’s office and then finally to the home department of the Delhi government.

The public information officer (PIO) sought time to locate the 25-year-old files, but did not furnish details even after considerable delay.

After a hearing at the first appellate authority, the applicant was told that Marwah, Dhillon and Narula committee reports were missing whereas the Kapur-Mittal report was marked secret.

The information commission, however, took a grim view of the reply and said, “It appears that a number of commissions have made hay on the anti-Sikh riots and given reports which have not delivered justice to the victims. Yet, these reports cannot be located. The appellant naively believes that the government would have acted on these reports, whereas it appears nobody is even aware of what these reports said.

“Despite the RTI Act being around for five years, PIO did not even give reasons for calling a report ‘secret’.”

The commission has now ordered that the Kapur-Mittal report be given, and an affidavit be filed by home secretary for missing reports.