Moneylife: Pune: Thursday, 1 August 2024.
The contentious issue of the
amount of Indian land ceded to China, which is guarded like a top secret but
strongly taken up by veteran politician Dr Subramanian Swamy, led to the
central information commissioner (CIC), last week, ordering the public information
officer (CPIO) of the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to furnish complete
information by the third week of August.
CIC Heeralal Samariya has also directed the MEA to “submit a compliance report before the commission.”
Dr Swamy, who took the route of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, was frustrated at the journey of his requisition from one department to another. His RTI application with MEA was first stonewalled by its CPIO. Thereafter, his RTI application was transferred to the commandant, border management, who, in turn, transferred it to the PIO, ministry of defence. The PIO, ministry of defence (department of military affairs) in turn, further transferred the RTI application to CPIO, Army HQ. This was further transferred to CPIO, ministry of home affairs.
Dr Swamy has sought information on the extent of India’s sovereign land acquired by China in 1996 through the mutually agreed upon line of actual control; the extent of land ceded to China since 2014; extent of land lost due to buffer zone/ no man’s land; on what agreement or otherwise India had ceded the Aksai Chin region to China and; some other aspects of this raging issue.
During the second hearing, Dr Swamy who had come along with two advocates, stated that though his RTI application had been repeatedly transferred, he had received no information at all from the respondents so far. The MEA representative maintained that the RTI application had been received and she “had furnished information held in the official records” but the CIC was not impressed.
Dr Swamy also got vague replies when he filed his first appeal with the first appellate authority (FAA). The FAA replied that under the RTI Act, only that information which is in the official records can be given. The FAA also stated that the defence minister had replied to these queries in Parliament on 15 September 2020 and 11 September 2021, as well as official press releases dated 6 August 2021 and 9 September 2022 provide the require information.
Aggrieved and dissatisfied, Dr Swamy filed a second appeal. CIC Samariya observed in his order that the contention of Dr Swamy was that “The information sought is not barred from disclosure under section 8(1) of the RTI Act and even if the information sought falls within any of the exceptions, the PIO was obliged to furnish a clear rationale for rejection as per section 7(8)(i) of the Act. He averred that information had been denied to him in violation of the provisions of the RTI Act.”
Dr Swamy has been continuously tweeting since the past several months, about the land acceded to China, mentioning the prime minister’s inability to be transparent. Let us see if the RTI Act will ensure transparency.
Swamy’s RTI application:
1. What extent of the sovereign land of the Republic of India has been acquired by the People's Republic of China, across the 1996 mutually agreed upon line of actual control? Kindly provide a map of the same, showing the exact ground portion, as of November 2022.
2. What extent of India's sovereign land has been ceded to China due to the further creation of buffer zones or "no man's land", across the mutually agreed upon line of actual control of 1996? Kindly provide a map of the same.
3. What extent of India's sovereign land has been ceded to the People's Republic of China since 2014? Kindly provide a map for the same, each year wise.
4. What extent of India's sovereign land has been lost due to the further creation of buffer zones or "no man's land" since 2014? Kindly provide a map of the same.
5. Under what agreement or otherwise India had ceded the Aksai Chin region to China? If so, kindly provide documentation of the same, including the area ceded.
6. How many times, and on what dates has there been Chinese military illegal incursions over Indian territory across the mutually agreed upon line of actual control between the countries since 1996? Kindly provide details of the same.
7. How many people have been displaced in India due to the creation of buffer zones or no man's land, or ceding of India's territory, since the drawing of the mutually agreed upon line of actual control between the countries since 1996? Kindly provide details of the same.”
CIC Heeralal Samariya has also directed the MEA to “submit a compliance report before the commission.”
Dr Swamy, who took the route of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, was frustrated at the journey of his requisition from one department to another. His RTI application with MEA was first stonewalled by its CPIO. Thereafter, his RTI application was transferred to the commandant, border management, who, in turn, transferred it to the PIO, ministry of defence. The PIO, ministry of defence (department of military affairs) in turn, further transferred the RTI application to CPIO, Army HQ. This was further transferred to CPIO, ministry of home affairs.
Dr Swamy has sought information on the extent of India’s sovereign land acquired by China in 1996 through the mutually agreed upon line of actual control; the extent of land ceded to China since 2014; extent of land lost due to buffer zone/ no man’s land; on what agreement or otherwise India had ceded the Aksai Chin region to China and; some other aspects of this raging issue.
During the second hearing, Dr Swamy who had come along with two advocates, stated that though his RTI application had been repeatedly transferred, he had received no information at all from the respondents so far. The MEA representative maintained that the RTI application had been received and she “had furnished information held in the official records” but the CIC was not impressed.
Dr Swamy also got vague replies when he filed his first appeal with the first appellate authority (FAA). The FAA replied that under the RTI Act, only that information which is in the official records can be given. The FAA also stated that the defence minister had replied to these queries in Parliament on 15 September 2020 and 11 September 2021, as well as official press releases dated 6 August 2021 and 9 September 2022 provide the require information.
Aggrieved and dissatisfied, Dr Swamy filed a second appeal. CIC Samariya observed in his order that the contention of Dr Swamy was that “The information sought is not barred from disclosure under section 8(1) of the RTI Act and even if the information sought falls within any of the exceptions, the PIO was obliged to furnish a clear rationale for rejection as per section 7(8)(i) of the Act. He averred that information had been denied to him in violation of the provisions of the RTI Act.”
Dr Swamy has been continuously tweeting since the past several months, about the land acceded to China, mentioning the prime minister’s inability to be transparent. Let us see if the RTI Act will ensure transparency.
Swamy’s RTI application:
1. What extent of the sovereign land of the Republic of India has been acquired by the People's Republic of China, across the 1996 mutually agreed upon line of actual control? Kindly provide a map of the same, showing the exact ground portion, as of November 2022.
2. What extent of India's sovereign land has been ceded to China due to the further creation of buffer zones or "no man's land", across the mutually agreed upon line of actual control of 1996? Kindly provide a map of the same.
3. What extent of India's sovereign land has been ceded to the People's Republic of China since 2014? Kindly provide a map for the same, each year wise.
4. What extent of India's sovereign land has been lost due to the further creation of buffer zones or "no man's land" since 2014? Kindly provide a map of the same.
5. Under what agreement or otherwise India had ceded the Aksai Chin region to China? If so, kindly provide documentation of the same, including the area ceded.
6. How many times, and on what dates has there been Chinese military illegal incursions over Indian territory across the mutually agreed upon line of actual control between the countries since 1996? Kindly provide details of the same.
7. How many people have been displaced in India due to the creation of buffer zones or no man's land, or ceding of India's territory, since the drawing of the mutually agreed upon line of actual control between the countries since 1996? Kindly provide details of the same.”
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