Modi's nod required before releasing post Godhra letters written by Vajpayee: PMO

NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister's Office will take the nod of Gujarat government and CM Narendra Modi for releasing the correspondence exchanged with the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee after the post-Godhra riots in 2002.

The information was earlier denied by the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the PMO S E Rizwi citing section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act, without giving any reasons, which exempts information that would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders.

The decision was overturned during the appeal before his senior Krishan Kumar, director PMO, where the applicant had objected to the response of the CPIO saying he failed to give germane reasons behind denial of information.

The RTI applicant had sought copy of all communications exchanged between the PMO and the Gujarat government between February 27, 2002 and April 30, 2002 on the law and order situation in the state. The applicant had also underlined that the correspondence was 11 years old and was not likely to have an impact on the investigation and prosecution of offenders.

The appellate authority had directed the CPIO to provide additional details with regard to the case. "The grounds for exemption claimed under section 8(1) (h) are not tenable, CPIO PMO is directed to obtain fresh inputs in this regard and provide the same to the applicant within 15 working days," Krishan Kumar, director and appellate authority had said.

In the latest response to six-and-a-half month old RTI application, Rizvi said after the appeal decision, the matter was referred to the office for fresh inputs. "It is informed that third party (government and Modi in the present case) consultation under Section 11(1) of the RTI Act is underway on a similar request and response regarding disclosure of information in this regard will be provided to you after due process as envisaged in section 11 of the Act is completed," he said.