Are the war related casualties liable to be placed in public domain?
6 Apr, 2013Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Indian Army seeking the number of terrorists and the Indian soldiers killed in the Kargil War and some other related information. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information under section 8(1)(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; of the RTI Act.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) observed that war related casualties cannot be placed in public domain without a reasonable distance of time as they affect the morale of the nation in general and that of the troops in particular. The CIC rejected the appeal stating that the disclosure of such information has a bearing on the national security.
Citation: Mr. Om Prakash Kashiram v. Indian Army in File No.CIC/LS/A/2012/002098
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1176
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission