The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed a Central Information Commission order directing the Centre to disclose the pre-trial advice given by the Army’s Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch in connection with a 2012 clash between 100-odd soldiers of Ladakh-based 226 Field Regiment and their superiors.
A Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anup J. Bhambhani also sought a reply of the RTI applicant, who is one of the soldiers involved in the clash. The Bench has posted the case for further hearing on August 13.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has challenged the January 2017 direction of the CIC to provide the information sought by the RTI applicant, Gunner Bikramjit Singh. The CIC order was initially challenged by the MoD before a single judge who in May 2018 had dismissed the plea on the grounds that it was filed after a considerable delay.
The Bench agreed to hear the appeal against the single judge’s decision after it was told that the documents had to be sent from Kargil leading to a delay in challenging the CIC order.
The petition has claimed that the CIC completely misinterpreted the Right to Information (RTI) law by directing the MoD to provide certified copies of the JAG’s pre-trial advice as the same was confidential and exempted from the purview of the Act.
According to the MoD plea, the incident had taken place on May 11-12, 2012, at Leh in Jammu and Kashmir after the soldiers heard a rumour that one of them had died after being badly beaten up by three officers for allegedly molesting an officer’s wife.
Mr. Singh, who was dismissed from service in 2015 after a Summary General Court Martial (SGCM) for his participation in the clash, had in December 2015 sought information regarding the advice given by the JAG in the matter.