Third parties against disclosing ‘Narendra Modi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee’ letters: PMO

NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister’s Office has refused to disclose details of correspondence between Narendra Modi as Gujarat CM and the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee during the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying “concerned third parties” have said the information is of “confidential nature” and will have the effect of impeding the ongoing inquiry, investigation and trial related to the riots.

In response to a 15-month old application filed by activist Subhash Chandra Agarwal under the RTI Act, the PMO on March 3 said that “concerned third parties” have not given their consent to disclose the information. It did not specify, however, whether the third party referred to by it is the Gujarat CMO, Vajpayee or PM Modi. The correspondence sought is believed to be significant as Vajpayee, while addressing a media conference in 2002, had famously advised Modi to observe his “Raj Dharma (ruler’s duty)”, under which no one should be discriminated.

“Information sought for by the applicant is the correspondence between the then chief minister and the then Prime Minister. The disclosure of this will prejudicially affect certain pending proceedings. The information sought for by the applicant is of a confidential nature and it will have the effect of impending the ongoing inquiry, investigation and trial,” the PMO said in its reply to the application, quoting the submission made by the third party.

It added, “The Hon’ble CM being the head of the council of ministers, the record of deliberations by the Hon’ble CM is required to be constitutionally and legally protected from disclosure. Keeping in view of the said facts, under section 8(1)(h) of the ‘Right to Information Act, 2005’ the information as sought for by applicant cannot be disclosed.”

The PMO said it is “inclined to agree” with this submission made by the third parties. Following the PMO’s refusal to part with the information, Agarwal on March 7 filed an appeal against the PMO’s decision.