CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Appeal No.CIC/WB/A/2008/00448 dated .2008
Right to Information Act 2005 - Section 19
Appellant - Lt. Col. S. C. Kalra
Respondent - Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD)
Facts
:
By an application of 30.3.07 Lt. Col. Subhash Chander Kalra (Rtd) of
Feroze Shah Kotla, New Delhi applied to the Ministry of Urban Development
seeking information on rehabilitation / resettlement of families displaced from
Pakistan in 1947 in the form of 8 questions, as follows:
“Q1. What steps were taken by the Govt. of India and Ministry/
Department of Rehabilitation, now part of your Ministry, for
the final rehabilitation/ resettlement of families displaced
from Pakistan, on division of the country, and temporarily
sheltered at Delhi.
Q2. In continuation to Q1 above was any land at Delhi placed
under erstwhile Ministry/ Department of Rehabilitation, for
the final resettlement of such families?
Q3. In continuation to Q1 to Q2 above, do you have enough
land, in conformity to DO letter No. 4 (7) 90 settlement dated
7th June 1990. (Photocopy enclosed) of then Minister of
State Home Shri Subodh Kant addressed to Shri L. K.
Advani then Member of Parliament now Leader of the
Opposition?
Q4. If the answer to Q3 above is in the negative then how and
when will they be finally rehabilitated/ resettled?
Q5. Does the DO letter No. 4(7) 90-settlement dated 7th June
1990 of then Minister State Home, addressed to them M. P.
Shri L. K. Advani, hold good for the final resettlement of
displaced families residing at Vikram Nagar, Kotla Feroze
Shah, New Delhi-110002?
Q6. If the answer to Q5 above is in the negative then what is the
current decision?
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Q.7 In continuation to Q 6 above, if the matter is still under
submission/consideration / process with the Govt. or
competent authority, then how long will it take to arrive at
final decision?
Q.8. If the answer to Q 5 above is in the positive then how long
will the Govt. take to finally resettle the 50 families as two
generations have already passed and third generation is on
the way?
To this he received a pointwise reply on 3.5.07 from Shri M. Roy
Choudhary, Dy. L&DO & PIO MOUD. Col. Kalra then moved another application
of 20.11.07 in which his request for information is concise and reads as follows:
“What is the plan of the Govt. for the final rehabilitation of refugees of
1947 at Vikram Nagar, Feroze Shah Kotla, New Delhi-110002?”
This application, however, was transferred to the Archeological Survey of
India on 3.12.07 by Shri Surender Singh, Dy. L&DO. Upon this Col. Kalra moved
his first appeal on 9.1.08 in which he has referred to his earlier application of
30.3.07 and the response given thereto, as follows:
“I am hereby also enclosing a photocopy of my petition dated 30th
Mach, 2007 under RTI Act of 2005 forwarded to your PIO/CPIO on
30th March, 2007 along with the photocopy of his reply forwarded
vide letter No. L&DO/RP Cell/RTI/17/07/94 dated 3.5.2007, the
reply at Q. 6 of your letter states quote “The current decision is to
examine the feasibility of redefining the boundaries of Kotla Feroze
Shah Monuments and subsequent change in the Master Plan to
exclude the area on which the construction exists. This has been
taken up with the Department of Culture.” Unquote. A photocopy of
Unstarred Question No. 5524 dated 19th April 1990, raised by Shri
M. S. Pal in the Lok Sabha with regard to this colony, and the reply
of the then Minister of Home Affairs (Sh. Mufti Mohammed Sayeed)
in Lok Sabha is enclosed which states, quote…..”
The relief he has sought from the First Appellate Authority is summarized in
the First Question of the Colonel’s first appeal as follows:
“Q.1. what is the Plan of the Government of India, is it to relocate
the entire colony or shift fifty families occupying 62
tenements or shift 20 tenements (A1 to A9 A and E1 to E11
adjoining to boundary wall of the Kotla Feroze Shah2
Monument)? If neither of the above is part of the
Government Plan then what is the plan for permanent
rehabilitation of refugees/ their families residing at Vikram
Nagar, Feroze Shah Kotla, New Delhi-110002?”
This appeal was duly received in the Ministry of Urban Development on
9.1.08. In the meantime, in response to the application transferred to
Archeological Survey of India, the Superintending Archeologist and CPIO, ASI
has reported to the DG, ASI, in his letter of 18.12.07, with a copy to appellant, as
follows:
“I have the honour to inform that no such plan of the Archaeological
Survey of India for government for final rehabilitation of refugees of
1947 residing at Vikram Nagar, Feroze Shah Kotla, New Delhi is
made available in this office.”
The response to this first appeal had not been provided to appellant by
16.2.08 when he moved his second appeal before us with the following prayer1:
“(a) I believe that the Dy. Land & Development Officer,
Ministry of Urban Development, Land & Development
Office, Nirman Bhawan, and New Delhi has given me a
misleading reply.
(ii) The Land & Development Officer, Ministry of Urban
Development, Land & Development Office, Nirman
Bhawan, New Delhi has not responded to my petition of
First Appeal thus amounting to refusal of information.”
In response to our appeal notice, we have received two letters of 24.4.08
and 14.7.08 from Shri Surender Singh, Dy. L&DO and CPIO, the gist of which is
the same, in which CPIO Shri Surender Singh has contended as follows:
“This office has already furnished the information whatever is
available with this office regarding plan of the Government of India
for final rehabilitation of refugees of 1947, residing at Vikram Nagar,
Feroze Shah Kotla, New Delhi-110002 vide this office letters dated
3.5.2007 and 3.12.07. No more information in this regard is
available with this office. This office has not given any misleading
reply. Regarding point (ii), it is submitted that the Order of the first
Appeal was also forwarded to him vide this office letter dated1
The numbering is not a typographical error. The prayer is so numbered in the appeal petition3
20.2.08. Thus, there is no fault of this office in providing the
information to the applicant.”
He has also attached a copy of the order of the L&DO and First Appellate
Authority of 15.2.08 on the first appeal of appellant Col. Kalra, in which he has
decided as follows:
“The information regarding plan of the Government for permanent
rehabilitation has been furnished on 3.5.2007 vide this office letter
No. L&DO/RPCell/RTI/17/7/99 against RTI Application dated
30.3.2007. For the rest of the requests, the appellant shall apply
afresh to the CPIO with regard to the questions or information
sought now in the appeal, as these are fresh requests for additional
information.”
Subsequently together with his letter of 14.7.08, Shri Surender Singh has
attached a more expanded response of 16.5.08 in which the entire question of
the rehabilitation of refugees of 1947 temporarily settled at Vikram Nagar on the
Feroze Shah Kotla premises, has been discussed. This would indicate that the
matter has continuously engaged Government since 1947 up to the level of
Prime Minister of India culminating in a decision of 8.6.1978 as follows:
(a) “The Refugee colony may continue under lease
arrangements for another 30 years.
(b) House constructed within ’25’ of the ancient structures,
boundary wall etc. should be shifted.
(c) The height of the existing houses should not be raised
beyond the present top of the fortification walls, so that
skyline of the monument is not disturbed. The matter was
reviewed on 24.11.1981 when it was decided to place the
matter before the Cabinet for a decision. The Residents of
Kotla Feroze Shah met the then Education Minister and
reiterated that they should not be shifted from Kotla Feroze
Shah and insisted that the ownership rights of the tenements
which they were occupying since 1949 be transferred to
them. On note moved by the Dep’t. of Culture in June 1985,
it was decided to constitute a Group of Ministers to consider
the matter further. The Group of Ministers noted the
encroachments made by the residents. The Dep’t. of
Culture put up a note to the Group of Ministers in May 1988.
In June 1989 the proposal of Department of Cultures was
approved as under:-
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(d) Lt. Governor, Delhi had to do a complete layout of developed
plots so as to accommodate 50 families (62 tenements) is an
area adjacent to the monument outside the notified area. In
the first instance 15 families (20 tenements) identified along
the north wall in Block A&E shifted to this area. The
allottees will construct their own house on the plots so
allotted. The plots will be given free of cost to the allottees.
The Ministry of Urban Development and DDA provide all
assistance in giving them appropriate house building plans
as well as loans from HUDCO. Archaeological Survey of
India will take steps to protect the 25 strip along the north
wall thus made available to them and also along the other
walls as and when made available to them.
(e) From 1994-96, MHA asked Dep’t. of Culture to intimate the
details of land identified for shifting 15 families including the
willingness of people to move out to the proposed site.
There was no response from the Dep’t. of Culture. In
January 2004 the Department of Culture submitted a Note
but further progress thereon is not available with the L&DO.”
In this letter reference has also been made to correspondence between the
MoUD and Secretary, Dep’t. of Culture.
The appeal was heard on 11.8.08. The following are present:
Appellant
Lt. Col. S. C. Kalra, SM
Respondents
Shri Rajesh Kumar Sinha, L&DO / FAA
Shri Pradeep Kumar Singh, Dy. L&DOAppellant Col. Kalra submitted that he has been seeking information for
several years, having migrated from what is now Pakistan in 1947, but is still
seeking permanent resettlement and is not being provided answers by Govt.
which is bent upon transferring his letter from one Department to another, each
of which deny that they hold the information.
Shri Rajesh Kumar Sinha L&DO has submitted that such information, as is
possessed by L&DO has been provided but the matter pertains to Dep’t. of
Culture, which has in other cases made arrangements of this kind.
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In view of the above, it appears that this is simply a matter where no
Department is taking responsibility for an issue which, since it concerns
rehabilitation of refugees of 1947, is an issue of national importance and indeed,
with the thirty years time frame given for residents to continue at Vikram Nagar
now expiring, requires to be addressed with the utmost urgency.
DECISION NOTICE
In this matter the letter of Sec 2(j) RTI Act, 2005 defining the “right to
information” had been met and no Department can actually be held to have
defaulted in providing information held by them to appellant Lt. Col. Kalra. The
question goes deeper, since this is a question of not only providing information
but one of who should be holding this information which, as we have held, is an
issue of national importance which would normally have required priority by
Government, and has also been discussed at the highest levels of Government.
It is clear that the information sought by the appellant Col. Kalra is not held
by the Ministry of Urban Development whereas on the question of rehabilitation it
is not held by the Dep’t. of Culture. However, as per the decision of 8.6.1978,
quoted above, the following is of particular relevance:
(d) Lt. Governor, Delhi had to do a complete layout of developed plots so as to
accommodate 50 families (62 tenements) in an area adjacent to the
monument outside the notified area2….. The Ministry of Urban Development
and DDA provide all assistance in giving them appropriate house building
plans as well as loans from HUDCO. Archaeological Survey of India will take
steps to protect the 25′ strip along the North wall thus made available to them
and also along the other walls as and when made available to them.
2
Underlined by us for emphasis
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From this, it is clear that the complete layout of the developed plots for the
rehabilitation of the Vikram Nagar was to be the responsibility of the Lt.
Governor, Delhi. It is that office which must, therefore, deal with the question put
by appellant Lt. Col. S. C. Kalra on the final rehabilitation / resettlement of
families displaced from Pakistan and settled in Vikram Nagar. It is only that
public authority which can respond to such a question. Under the authority
vested in us u/s 19(8)(a), we hereby direct the Lt. Governor, Delhi to take
immediate steps as may be necessary to provide the information sought in his
original application of 30.3.07 to Lt. Col. Subhash Chander Kalra of Vikram
Nagar, Feroze Shah Kotla, New Delhi. A copy of that application and responses
received by Col. Kalra are appended with this decision for ease of reference.
Because the request for information has not yet been presented to the
office of Lt. Governor Delhi, the CPIO of his office will dispose off this application
within the period mandated for a fresh application u/s 7(1) of the RTI Act.
Reserved in the hearing, this decision is announced in open chamber on
12.8.2008.
Notice of this decision be given free of cost to the parties.
(Wajahat Habibullah)
Chief Information Commissioner
12.8.2008
Authenticated true copy. Additional copies of orders shall be supplied against
application and payment of the charges, prescribed under the Act, to the CPIO
of this Commission.
(Pankaj Shreyaskar)
Joint Registrar
12.8.2008
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