HC asks govt to describe procedure for classified documents on affidavit

Bhatt had sought the documents from the state government to file a detailed affidavit before the Justices Nanavati-Mehta Commission,which is probing the 2002 riots,regarding the alleged roles played by different government personnel during the riots. The documents pertained to the time period from February to November 2002.

A division bench of HC,comprising Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala,gave the oral order while acting on an application by the state government seeking to clarify an HC order passed in October last year. Based on Advocate General Kamal Trivedi’s statement related to the records,which was later found contrary to facts,the HC bench had disposed of a public interest litigation (PIL) jointly moved by Bhatt and civil rights organisation People’s Union for Civil Liberties.

In the PIL,the petitioners had urged HC to direct the state government to provide certain intelligence documents sought by Bhatt so that the latter could file an affidavit before the Nanavati-Mehta Commission. The PIL was moved after the state government did not provide Bhatt access to those records.

The Advocate General had told the court that the documents sought by Bhatt were not destroyed and would be made available to the Nanavati-Mehta Commission. However,shortly after that,the state government made it clear before the Commission that 9 out of the 47 documents sought by Bhatt had been destroyed in “routine course”.

A senior IPS officer filed an affidavit in this regard before the Commission. The state government had produced only 15 out of the 47 documents sought by Bhatt. While nine of them had been claimed to be destroyed,many of them were claimed to be either being traced or not maintained or marked as secret.

Subsequently,the state government moved an instant application seeking to clarify the statement of the Advocate General. The government contended that it was a bonafide mistake committed due to some misunderstanding in communication.

In a hearing on September 14,the HC bench had directed the state government to provide the original registers from which the nine documents were destroyed. The registers were accordingly produced before the court on Tuesday.

During the hearing of the matter,the petitioners’ senior counsel,Mihir Joshi,argued that there were several discrepancies in the stand of the state government on the status of the intelligence documents sought by Bhatt. He said that there were some documents which were at one time claimed to be destroyed,but were later claimed to be “secret” before the Commission. Joshi also argued that the state government claimed that the record of incoming telephone calls of intelligence bureau were maintained,but not the outgoing calls.

Joshi also raised questions on the manner in which the state government destroyed the documents. He said that on many destroyed documents,there was no expressed approval of senior officers.

“How could the state government destroy relevant intelligence records related to the riots when an Inquiry Commission appointed by itself was probing the issue?” Joshi asked.

Joshi said that between October 21,2010 and October 22,2010,13,000 pages of intelligence records were destroyed. “They preserved it from 2002 to 2010 and then destroyed it. Is the state government’s theory palatable to the court?,” Joshi argued.