Author: Jaya Menon
Publication: The Times of India
Date: August 8, 2010
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/30-yrs-on-info-on-Emergency-cannot-be-official-secret/articleshow/6272901.cms
So where are the records of India's "darkest
days", the political period that seemed to spell curtains for democracy,
the Emergency of 1975-1977? If replies to an RTI query are to be believed,
no one knows where to find the communications between then President Fakhruddin
Ali Ahmed and the government before and after the Emergency. And no one has
any idea where to look for the relevant documents, notings and records of
various decisions. These are not with us, says the ministry of home affairs,
passing the buck to the National Archives of India (NAI). The NAI, which is
the repository of 'non-current records' of the government of India, says nothing
was transferred to it. So where did the records go?
"The presumption is that they (the officers)
have either destroyed them or they don't want to give it away. In this context,
one can only assume that all the allegations (pertaining to the Emergency
period) against Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi were true," said M G
Devasahayam, an ex-IAS officer who served as Chandigarh district magistrate
during the Emergency.
On February 25, Devasahayam, who now lives
in Chennai, set off a chain of extraordinary events with extraordinary implicationw
when he sent an RTI application to Sanjukta Ray, deputy secretary and chief
principal information officer in the prime minister's office (PMO). He asked
for information on the "presidential proclamation of June 26, 1975, declaring
a state of Emergency in the country that lasted up to March/April 1977".
The PMO replied on March 4, transferring the
queries "for appropriate action" under Section 6(3) of the RTI Act,
to the ministry of home affairs, the nodal ministry for enforcing the Emergency.
On April 7, PK Mishra, a director in the home ministry, said the information
sought was more than 25 years old and not available with the ministry. "As
per Rule 5 of the Public Records Rules, 1997, the relevant records and documents
may be available in the National Archives of India," he said, adding
that a copy of Devasahayam's application had been forwarded to the NAI.
The NAI's response was prompt but the mystery
only deepened. On May 11, Rajesh Verma, assistant director, NAI, wrote to
Devasahayam, saying, "During a preliminary search, the requisite information
sought could not be located ... since it has not been transferred to NAI."
On May 27, Devasahayam dashed off a complaint
under Section 18 of the RTI Act to chief information commissioner Wajahat
Habibullah but says his "good friend and batchmate...remains silent".
Devasahayam says he wants the information, which is not under the Official
Secrets Act, because "the country is yet to get over the hangover of
the dark days. All that is going on now, the corruption in the system, has
flowed from then".
