Committee to decide on disclosure of 1962-63 Indo-Pak records

New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI) The CIC has directed the Indian
government to constitute a high-level committee to decide on
declassifying "top secret" records of talks held 47 years back
between Foreign Minister Swaran Singh and his Pakistani
counterpart Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the wake of the India-China
war.
The Central Information Commission said the committee
should comprise secretaries from Foreign, Defence and Home
departments.
The decision comes after a full-bench of the CIC
perused all the eight "top Secret" files related to six rounds
of talks between Singh and Bhutto during 1962-63.
On an Right To Information application by veteran
journalist Kuldip Nayar, the CIC noted that the the decision
to withhold information relating to the talks was taken by a
joint secretary without making any reference to the Foreign
Secretary.
"A Committee comprising the Foreign Secretary, the
Defence Secretary and the Home Secretary be constituted to
address and finally decide as to whether the information in
the instant case can actually be disseminated at present fully
or partially after the passage of more than three decades of
the incident," the Bench directed exercising powers vested to
it under the transparency law.
Nayar had sought these documents from the Ministry of
External Affairs but his request was rejected by the ministry
citing exemption clauses of the RTI Act. The Bench had in
March this year asked the ministry to produce these files for
perusal.
In its order, the Commission said the committee should
consider contention put forth by Nayar that Pakistan was
willing to disclose this information but not to any Indian
national as there is no such agreement between the two
countries.
"It will be open to the Committee to examine this
information on the principle of severability, thus severing
such information as would in their view be exempt from
disclosure...MEA will then take a decision on declassification
within two months," the Bench comprising Chief Information
Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah and Information Commissioners
Annapurna Dixit and Satyananda Mishra said. PTI ABS
KAB