VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, May 4: The Jharkhand Health Department lodging an FIR under sections of the Official Secret Act 1923 against unknown persons who allegedly leaked papers related to the Covid incentive scam to former minister and Jamshedpur (East) MLA Saryu Roy, has evoked a sharp response whether or not it was a fit case under the Act.
Under-secretary of the department Vijay Verma lodged an FIR at Doranda police station. He said that MLA Saryu Roy made certain allegations against the department and the minister about the disbursement of Covid incentive and he got the news published in newspapers. Verma in the complaint said that the official documents that Saryu Roy used to make allegations were not procured through the ‘Right to Information’ Act hence it attracts provisions of the Official Secret Act. He further stated that such allegations spoiled the image of the department.
Former Bihar chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh said that the Official Secret Act should be used judiciously. “Anything which is not prohibited under ‘Right to Information Act’ is not a classified document. The nature, category, and the case of documents under question as you explained don’t attract provisions of the Official Secret Act. People have a right to know how and where money was spent,” said the former chief secretary.
He said that he wondered whether health minister Banna Gupta, health secretary Arun Kumar Singh and secretaries listed their names for the Covid incentive amount. “Ministers and bureaucrats should avoid the allurement of such petty pecuniary gains,” said Anjani Kumar Singh.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity a very senior law officer of the Jharkhand government said that in the Rafale case the Supreme Court had said that no document was untouchable irrespective of the source. “Such things should not have happened. In the Rafale case, the Supreme Court had observed that even a piece of paper lying on the road can be examined,” said the law officer.
But Vijay Verma justified invoking the Official Secret Act in this case. “Of course, these documents are not under the prohibited category. We can make them available to people through the proper official channels. Here documents were obtained in an illegal manner which is a crime under sections of the Official Secret Act and IPC,” said Vinay Verma.
Jharkhand High Court lawyer Rajiv Kumar said that it smells of the intention of the government to stop people from procuring such documents that may bring embarrassment.
“If this amounts to a serious case of the violation of the Official Secret Act, then half of the population of Jharkhand will be in jail. Media houses and media persons would be fighting court cases. The Official Secret Act never hindered us from gathering even highly sensitive documents related to corruption by Madhu Koda and Co,” said Rajiv Kumar.
The former Advocate General Anil Sinha said that alleged documents were sensitive in nature. The Official Secret Act can’t be used as a convenient smokescreen to deny information or to deter someone who has documents. “Law should be judiciously applied,” said Anil Sinha.
