RTI chief seeks enquiry report on the basis of which a naval officer was jailed for spying

RTI chief seeks report on naval officer jailed for spying

New Delhi, July 16 (IANS) India's RTI chief has asked the defence
ministry for the enquiry report on the basis of which a naval officer
was sacked and jailed for espionage and who has now sought the grounds
for his incarceration. "The applicant (Vijender Rana) had asked for
the board enquiry report and board enquiry proceedings. I heard what
he had to say," Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Wajahat
Habibullah told IANS.

Habibullah, who heads the Central Information Commission that
administers the Right to Information (RTI) act, was speaking after he
met Rana in the Tihar Jail here. This is the first time the CIC had
visited the prison.

"However, (an official of) the appellate authority (the defence
ministry) was not present on the occasion. The ministry been directed
to provide us the board enquiry report for inspection," Habibullah
said.

Rana, a sacked Indian Navy commander who has been jailed under the
Official Secrets Act, is one of the five accused in a case relating to
the leak of classified information from the Naval War Room here.

"We have asked for the board enquiry report to ascertain whether it
can be given to Rana or not as the appellate authority has refused to
give it to him citing national security concerns," a commission
official said.

"The matter is expected to complete very soon as it concerns the
liberty of an individual person," the official added.

Rana had filed an RTI application last month to get the enquiry report
of his case.

"But when he was refused the report, he had approached CIC," a Tihar
jail official said.

Besides Rana, the other accused are Ravi Shankaran, a relative of
former Indian Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash; retired naval Commander
Kulbushan Parashar and sacked naval Commander V.K. Jha, as also
retired Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander S.L. Surve.

An Interpol Red Corner lookout notice has been issued against
Shankaran, who has been declared a proclaimed offender.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has already filed a charge
sheet against the five accused.

According to the CBI, the accused had leaked 7,000 pages of classified
defence information that had a direct bearing on national security.
...

ICT by IANS