Should the UP government report on Muzaffarnagar violence be made public?
4 Jan, 2014In reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has declined to provide copies of the reports received from the Uttar Pradesh Governor and the government on Muzaffarnagar communal violence. The reply accepts that an incident happened in Kawal town on August 27, 2013 in which three persons were killed over alleged eve teasing of a girl which culminated into a major communal riot in Muzaffarnagar and its adjoining districts. It adds that as per the report of the state government, 62 persons were killed and 98 persons were injured. Copies of reports have been denied under Section 8(1)(h) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders; of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
In reply to a specific query seeking details of any intelligence communication sent to Uttar Pradesh government warning them of possible riots in Muzaffarnagar and other areas, the MHA has cited Section 24 of the RTI Act, 2005, which exempts the information relating to Intelligence Bureau from the purview of RTI Act. However, the information pertaining to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations are not exempt from disclosure under the said section.
Regarding the request of the applicant seeking copies of letters or reports exchanged between Uttar Pradesh government and MHA, the reply accepts that a series of letters and advisories were sent to the government of Uttar Pradesh on September 5, 9, 10 and 25, October 4 and November 14 to take all preventive measures to maintain harmony in the area. But, copies of correspondence between the Uttar Pradesh government and MHA were refused citing Section 8(1)(h) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders; Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders; of RTI Act, 2005. The reply from MHA added that the responsibility of dealing with communal violence and maintaining relevant data like extent of loss of property, compensation paid to affected families, persons arrested or convicted etc, rests primarily with respective state governments.
The central government had deployed 78 companies (each comprising of about 1000 personnel) of Central Armed Police Forces in the riot-affected areas.