Daily Bhaskar: Jaipur: Thursday, 02 August 2012.
Wary of the consequences of an information leak in the Gopalgarh riots case, the state government sent an affidavit to the Justice Sunil Kumar Garg Commission.
In the affidavit, the government has pleaded before the commission that till the inquiry is not completed information should not be revealed under Right to Information (RTI) Act.
“The state’s reply contains facts which could have a bearing on the law and order situation of the entire area. Many anti-social elements could use the cited information to foment trouble and disrupt social harmony. Moreover, they could also use this information to affect the process of ongoing investigation and trial in various courts. You are, therefore, requested to disallow giving any information the concerned under RTI Act or other similar provisions”: states an excerpt from the affidavit filed by the home department.
Significantly, the government also delayed filing of its reply by four months. The initial date given by the commission was January 4, 2012, but the government got four extensions of one month each to submit its reply.
When contacted, secretary to the commission, TP Gupta, accepted receiving the government’s affidavit, but said they are yet to decide whether they’d act on it or not. “We will decide after we get reply from Meo Muslims and the Gurjars,” the secretary added.
Reacting sharply on the government’s affidavit, a senior member of Rajasthan Muslim Forum, which is fighting for Meo’s interests, Professor Hasan, said, “All these steps make clear that government does not want transparency in the process and not only is it trying to create distraction, but protect the culprits also.”
“Government is trying to avoid transparency. These steps create suspicion about government’s intention, people wonder if they’ll get justice,” said Himmat Singh, a prominent Gurjar leader.
.JPG)
.JPG)
