Central Information Commission
Mr.Himanshu Agarwal vs Ministry Of Home Affairs on 19 July, 2012
Central Information Commission
Room No. 305 BWing, August Kranti Bhawan,
Bhikaji Kama Place, New Delhi - 110066
Tel No: 26167931
Case No. CIC/SS/A/2012/000815
Dated: 19.7.2012
Name of the Appellant : Shri Himanshu Agarwal
(The Appellant was not present)
Name of the Public Authority : Ministry of Home Affairs
Represented by Shri G. Sridharan, Dy.
Secretary, Shri S.C. Rawat, S.O. and Shri
H Kujur, S.O.
ORDER
Shri Himanshu Agarwal, the appellant, requested for various information relating to disturbed Area declaration under AFSPA, through his RTI application dated 7.7.2011. In his appeal filed before the Commission, the appellant submits a list of points to which, according to the appellant, information has not been provided to him by the respondent in reply to his RTI application.
The matter was heard on 19.7.2012.
The Deputy Secretary to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Shri G. Sridharan, vide his letter dated 6.7.2012, while enclosing para-wise responses to the relief sought by the appellant, states as follows:-
"A copy of the reply received from HR Division is enclosed. For the portions of information relating to State Governments of Tripura and Manipur, letter have been addressed to the respective Chief Secretaries for supply of information to the applicant.
The entire matter hinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of the nation since the level of violence in the North East due to militant outfits is beyond the control of the law & order machinery of the State Governments, as, such outfits have cross-border support. Further, such outfits also challenge and attack the sovereignty of the country by seeking secession from India. The matter being so sensitive, any request from the public for supply of documents from the file is likely to undermine the secret nature of these documents and hence cannot be entertained."
The following are the enclosed para-wise responses to the relief sought by the appellant:-
1. A complete list of all areas which were declared as "disturbed areas" as per the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (the Act) as on 30th June, 2011 irrespective of which authority made the said declarations.
In response to the RTI application, the details in this regard, to the extent handled by the CPIO was supplied to the applicant. However, now, in response to the request of the appellant reproduced above, complete list of disturbed areas (collected by the CPIO from different CPIOs including those of State governments, in the context of Parliament Questions) given as under:-
Under Section 3 of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, Central Government or the Governor of the State has been conferred powers to declare the States/areas as 'disturbed area' if the State or any area is in such a disturbed or dangerous condition that the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary. Considering the existing security situation, the entire State of Assam and 20 Km. wide belt in the States of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya along the border of Assam and the entire State of Nagaland have been declared 'disturbed' by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Tirap & Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh have also been declared as 'disturbed' by the Ministry. Governor of Manipur has declared entire state of Manipur except Imphal Municipal area as 'disturbed area'. Imphal Municipal area was excluded from disturbed area status in August, 2004 by Governor, Manipur. Governor of Tripura has declared 34 police stations of Tripura fully and part of area under 6 police stations as 'disturbed area' under this Act. On the declaration of an area as 'disturbed area', special powers devolve on the armed forces deployed in that area to deal with the situation.
And under Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Jammu & Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990 the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir has declared the districts of Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur, Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, Srinagar, Budgam, Anantnag, Pulwama, Baramulla and Kupwara.
2. Dates since which the declarations mentioned in point 1 have been in force.
Dates against areas declared by NE Division and in possession of the CPIO (already supplied) is enclosed. Those relating to other CPIOs are not available with this CPIO.
3. A list of all declarations where after a review the area continued to be disturbed area for any amount of time (not necessarily continuing till today or 30th June, 2011).
The list already supplied was exhaustive in so far as the CPIO is concerned and is enclosed. In respect of Manipur and Tripura, since the State Governments are issuing the notifications, they have been asked to furnish necessary details to the applicant (copy enclosed). In respect of Nagaland (prior to 2003), papers are not readily forthcoming in the jurisdiction of the PIO and hence other units/Top Secret Section and Record Division have been requested to trace the same.
4. Certified copies of all the file notings regarding all decisions in favour of a declaration made after 27th November, 1997. In case all declarations cannot be given then those file notings that can be severed from the secret ones.
These notings being secret, they cannot be supplied. They are exempted from being supplied under section 8(1) (a) of the RTI Act itself.
5. A list of all declarations (including the declaration to continue an existing declaration made under section 3) which have been made after 27.11.1997 and specify against each such declaration individually and specifically whether or not the state government was consulted in that regard.
The list already supplied by the CPIO in this regard is exhaustive and in all such cases, State Governments had been consulted to the extent perused by the CPIO.
6. Certified copies of file noting in relation to each such consultation held with the respective state government.
As in para 4 above
7. Where such declaration has been made without consulting the respective state government, provide detailed reasons as to why such consultation was not done.
Question does not arise. And RTI Act does not envisage such questions being asked by the applicants. They are entitled to get information to the extent available in files (and to the extent not exempted) but not entitled to explanations as the one sought here.
Enclosed with the above, responses are details of the declaration of "Disturbed Area" under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 in the North Eastern Region issued by the Central Govt. from time to time.
8. Information required as per point 5 of original application. Shri P.K. Ahuja, Deputy Secretary to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, vide his letter dated 10.7.2012 sates as follows:-
"On this specific issue, it is informed that as per available records, HR Division has not received any such complaint, in which it has been established that security forces misused and abused the provisions of AFSPA. As such, HR Division has no information to furnish in this regard and NE Division may get the required details from the concerned States."
Having considered the submission and the relevant documents produced, it is clear that details of declaration of "Disturbed Area" under Armed Force (Special Powers) Act, 1958 in the North Eastern Region issued by the Central Government from time to time have been provided to the appellant. Dates against areas declared by the Home Ministry have, therefore, been provided to the appellant. In respect of Manipur and Tripura, the Chief Secretaries, Govt. of Manipur and Govt. of Tripura have been requested to provide information relating to their State directly to the appellant since the State Governments are issuing notifications. The Commission, therefore, is of the view that requisite information in this respect has been provided to the appellant.
In respect of queries at point No. 4 & 6 of his appeal filed before the Commission, the respondent have submitted that request for supply of documents from the file is likely to undermine the secret nature of these documents since the entire matter hinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of the nation since the level of violence in the North East due to militant outfits is beyond the control of law and order machinery of the State as such outfits have cross-border support. Such outfits also challenge and attack the sovereignty of the country by seeking succession from India. Exemption from disclosure of information has therefore been sought u/s 8(1)(a) of the RTI act. In view of the reasons/grounds given by the respondent, the Commission is of the view that the provisions of section 8(1) (a) of the RTI Act apply. Requisite information has been provided in the remaining queries.
The matter is disposed of with these observations.
(Sushma Singh) Information Commissioner Authenticated true copy:
(D.C. Singh) Deputy Registrar Copy to:
1. Shri Himanshu Aggarwal, 7-C, Sunder Apartment, GH-10, Paschuim Vihar, New Delhi - 110087.
2. The Director(NE-III) & C.P.I.O.
Ministry of Home Affairs, North Block, New Delhi - 110001.
3. The Joint Secretary(NE-III) & F.A.A., Ministry of Home Affairs, North Block, New Delhi - 110001.