The
Hindu: New Delhi: Monday, October 07, 2019
To
an RTI query, Union Home Ministry says it has no information and directs
applicant to the J&K administration.
The
Home Ministry does not have information on any orders passed to block
telecommunications and Internet, suspend radio and satellite television
services, evacuate tourists and detain political leaders and activists in Jammu
and Kashmir in August. The Ministry says it has no information on the names and
locations of the detainees, and directed any queries to the State
administration.
In
response to a recent Right to Information request to share copies of such
orders, directions or advisories, two Central public information officers of
the Ministry’s J&K division said the information was not available with
them.
The
Ministry said, “The information might be available with the State government of
J&K.”
However,
the RTI application could not be forwarded to the J&K government as the RTI
Act, 2005 is not applicable in the State, said the response.
According
to it, a separate application could be filed under the State’s RTI law. This
option is only available to the State’s residents.
A
senior official in the J&K government said Central laws, including the RTI
Act, 2005, would come into effect in J&K only when it became a Union
Territory on October 31.
Venkatesh
Nayak, the activist who filed the RTI request, noted that the State of J&K
had been under President’s Rule since December 19, 2018 and how was it possible
that the Home Ministry did not have information on orders imposing travel and
telecom restrictions.
“All
powers of the Governor and the State Legislature stand transferred to the
President of India. The work of the State Government is being carried out under
the guidance of the Central Government through the State’s Governor who has
only babus to run the administration,” he said on October 6.
“Any
order imposing curbs on travel and telecommunications will at least be copied
to the Union Home Ministry in which the J&K Division is housed, if not
actually directed by the MHA. So the CPIOs’ replies that they have no
information about the curbs imposed and the arrests and detention of residents
of J&K are not based on truth and reality,” he said on October 6.
Mr.
Nayak filed his RTI application on August 30, almost a month after the shutdown
of the State in preparation for the government’s announcement regarding the
amendment of Article 370. Apart from copies of the relevant orders, he asked
for the names of the political leaders and activists under detention or
custody, the addresses where they are being held, and the law under which they
were detained.
Pass
the question
The
first CPIO, T. Sreekanth, said no information was available with them, and
passed on the query to the second CPIO. She responded that the “information
sought by you is not available with the undersigned CPIO.”
Instead,
she directed the RTI applicant to the J&K State government for further
queries.
An
earlier request by RTI activist Nutan Thakur for a copy of the Ministry’s file
on the decision to amend Article 370 had been denied, citing exemptions allowed
under the RTI Act without specifying the specific reason for exemption being
claimed.
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