03-24-2010, 02:26 PM
[url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/MEA-goes-all-out-to-block-info-on-Sharm-el-Sheikh/articleshow/5717526.cms"] MEA goes all out to block info on Sharm el-Sheikhââ¬Å½[/url]
NEW DELHI: Faced with the prospect of making public "sensitive" information relating to names of people who had helped draft the controversial Indo-Pak joint statement in Sharm-El Sheikh, the ministry of external affairs on Tuesday invoked a long list of reasons to get relief from the Delhi High Court against an order asking it to furnish information under the RTI Act.
The MEA seemed to have come up with every conceivable on why the information could not be shared. These included national security, the fragile nature of India's relationship with Pakistan and the negative ramifications it could have on the country's foreign policy.
The ministry also claimed in court that files related to bilateral talks between two countries were exempt from disclosure under the RTI Act.
Acting on MEA's plea, Justice S Muralidhar stayed the order of the Central Information Commission, which had asked the ministry to allow an RTI applicant to inspect files that led to what has been dubbed as the "bad drafting" of the joint statement issued by India and Pakistan at the Sharm-El Sheikh summit held in Egypt last year.
"The CIC has failed to consider that there are crucial issues concerning national security and relations with other countries involved in this case," the plea filed by MEA in HC stated, seeking to convince the court that any transparency on this diplomatic decision had "serious implications for India's foreign policy and national security".
Defending its decision not to permit an inspection of files by RTI activist Subhash Chandra Aggarwal, the MEA added, "India's relations with its neighbours, especially Pakistan are of a complex and sensitive nature... there is an ongoing process of negotiation with Pakistan to resolve outstanding issues and regular correspondences are being exchanged between the two countries. There would be large scale adverse ramifications for Indian foreign policy if such sensitive and ongoing negotiations are exposed prematurely to public domain and subjected to publicity and media scrutiny."
In his RTI plea, Aggarwal had merely sought to know the names of officials involved in the drafting of the statement.
While staying the CIC order of January 4, HC also issued notice to Aggarwal, asking him to respond by July 23 on the MEA petition.
The joint statement issued following talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in the Egyptian city in July last year had sparked a controversy over a mention of India's possible role in the separatist movement in Balochistan. The then foreign secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon, had conceded this could be a case of "bad drafting".
Shedding some light on the issue, the MEA's plea said that "the joint statement encapsulates the substance of the discussions between the two PMs. It may be noted that it was prepared and issued at Sharm-El-Sheikh itself and not from MEA offices in India. No file notings are available regarding the drafting of the statement... it is not possible to specifically identify the officials who drafted the joint statement".
Trotting out other reasons why the CIC order needed to be quashed, the MEA complained the information watchdog had "exceeded its jurisdiction" in asking the ministry to make the entire files on the summit available to Aggarwal. It pointed out that the PM made a statement in Parliament on the issue after returning from Egypt and in the process "kept the elected representatives of the people of India fully and comprehensively briefed on his meetings with the Pakistan PM". Therefore, the petition reasoned, there was no need to allow inspection of its files.
Shame on congress politicians , they are hell bent on breaking India , crushing all democratic principles and filling up their own pockets.Even the Italian Mafia is not so unpatriotic as our Rajmata and her lackey MMS is. Shame
NEW DELHI: Faced with the prospect of making public "sensitive" information relating to names of people who had helped draft the controversial Indo-Pak joint statement in Sharm-El Sheikh, the ministry of external affairs on Tuesday invoked a long list of reasons to get relief from the Delhi High Court against an order asking it to furnish information under the RTI Act.
The MEA seemed to have come up with every conceivable on why the information could not be shared. These included national security, the fragile nature of India's relationship with Pakistan and the negative ramifications it could have on the country's foreign policy.
The ministry also claimed in court that files related to bilateral talks between two countries were exempt from disclosure under the RTI Act.
Acting on MEA's plea, Justice S Muralidhar stayed the order of the Central Information Commission, which had asked the ministry to allow an RTI applicant to inspect files that led to what has been dubbed as the "bad drafting" of the joint statement issued by India and Pakistan at the Sharm-El Sheikh summit held in Egypt last year.
"The CIC has failed to consider that there are crucial issues concerning national security and relations with other countries involved in this case," the plea filed by MEA in HC stated, seeking to convince the court that any transparency on this diplomatic decision had "serious implications for India's foreign policy and national security".
Defending its decision not to permit an inspection of files by RTI activist Subhash Chandra Aggarwal, the MEA added, "India's relations with its neighbours, especially Pakistan are of a complex and sensitive nature... there is an ongoing process of negotiation with Pakistan to resolve outstanding issues and regular correspondences are being exchanged between the two countries. There would be large scale adverse ramifications for Indian foreign policy if such sensitive and ongoing negotiations are exposed prematurely to public domain and subjected to publicity and media scrutiny."
In his RTI plea, Aggarwal had merely sought to know the names of officials involved in the drafting of the statement.
While staying the CIC order of January 4, HC also issued notice to Aggarwal, asking him to respond by July 23 on the MEA petition.
The joint statement issued following talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in the Egyptian city in July last year had sparked a controversy over a mention of India's possible role in the separatist movement in Balochistan. The then foreign secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon, had conceded this could be a case of "bad drafting".
Shedding some light on the issue, the MEA's plea said that "the joint statement encapsulates the substance of the discussions between the two PMs. It may be noted that it was prepared and issued at Sharm-El-Sheikh itself and not from MEA offices in India. No file notings are available regarding the drafting of the statement... it is not possible to specifically identify the officials who drafted the joint statement".
Trotting out other reasons why the CIC order needed to be quashed, the MEA complained the information watchdog had "exceeded its jurisdiction" in asking the ministry to make the entire files on the summit available to Aggarwal. It pointed out that the PM made a statement in Parliament on the issue after returning from Egypt and in the process "kept the elected representatives of the people of India fully and comprehensively briefed on his meetings with the Pakistan PM". Therefore, the petition reasoned, there was no need to allow inspection of its files.
Shame on congress politicians , they are hell bent on breaking India , crushing all democratic principles and filling up their own pockets.Even the Italian Mafia is not so unpatriotic as our Rajmata and her lackey MMS is. Shame