Information on steps to combat Chinese incursions denied under RTI
1 Aug, 2013
After an attempt of the Chinese troops to violate the International Border at Chumar area in north east of Leh on July 20 failed, an application was filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get information about the measures taken by India along its border to prevent Chinese incursions. The query also sought to know the locations of air facilities at the border.
However, the Ministry of Defence, in the reply to the application, declined to provide the information about the infrastructure details of Indian government to control Chinese incursion stating that the information was highly classified
Citing security reasons, the Defence Ministry said that the demanded information, if revealed, could pose threat to national security. So the ministry claimed exemption regarding the information under Section 8(a) of RTI Act.
However, going a step further, the Border Roads Development Board stated that it was not compelled to divulge information on any issues including those of corruption and human rights violations.