Landmark decision by CIC

The Central Information Commission yesterday directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to disclose documents of the Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry. The order came 33 months after I had filed the application. It was a very interesting hearing, with Wajahat Habibullah coming out very strongly that the papers need to be released.

The full order is however yet to be given out by the CIC. One point being considered from the legal point of view is whether MHA has the authority to disclose papers that belong to other Ministries. The point was raised by MHA in the meeting - that although it has custody of all the papers, not all papers belong to it. Therefore, the other ministries need to give their consent for declassification. Mr Habibullah reserved his judgement on this point. The final order is expected to be out soon.

This has been reported in the print editions of the Indian Express, The Statesman and the Anandabazar Patrika. Online, you can see the story at http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_disclose-your-documents-in-netaji-s...

Mr Habibullah ended the hearing with a nice comment - "This is a small step for declassification, but a giant leap for history."