HC relief for Maria over 26/11 call records case

The Bombay High Court recently stayed the judicial proceedings initiated against police commissioner Rakesh Maria following an order by the state chief information commissioner in connection with discrepancies found in the call data records of the police control room the top officer had manned on the night of the November 26 terror attack.

Last year, CIC Ratnakar Gaikwad had ordered a probe into the conversation between the police control room and the wireless set of then additional commissioner of police Ashok Kamte, who was killed in the terror attack, after Kamte's widow, Vinita, alleged that the control room, manned by Maria, didn't pass correct information to her husband, who was battling Pakistani terrorists in a narrow lane near the Special Branch office. She believes that had the control room passed correct information, Kamte wouldn't have fallen prey to the terrorists. Vinita was denied the information when she first sought the call data records under the RTI Act.

However, when the information was provided in November 2009 and February 2010, there were serious discrepancies in it. Then, she approached the CIC. The state had moved the HC demanding a stay on Gaikwad's order, arguing that the CIC had no jurisdiction or competence to order such a probe.

A division bench of Justice Anoop Mohta and Justice V L Achliya in their order "On the due consideration of submissions advanced, in the light of the provisions of the RTI, we are of the view that contentions raised by the petitioner (government) as against the impugned order, require consideration. We are, therefore, of the view that a prima facie case has been made out to grant an interim stay to the impugned order. We are inclined to grant ad interim stay till final disposal of the matter." The next hearing of the case will be on July 30.