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The fact that you wrote earlier in your post what is india's gain in this?
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The fact that you wrote earlier in your post what is india's gain in this?
OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT
Outlook scooped V.K. Singh's expose on RAW. Now, he's booked under the Official Secrets Act. Is this act meant for misuse? Has several vague, "all-inclusive" provisions; anyone can be prosecuted for sharing even harmless information What is "secret" has not been defined, leaving scope for misuse Any document can be deemed secret on the opinion of an "expert"
Heavily loaded against the accused. Only Section 5 has a provision for bail which is rarely given. Is used as a vendetta tool to book whistleblowers and unpliable officials.
In an age when it is fashionable to talk about freedom of expression, the UPA government has resorted to the archaic Official Secrets Act (OSA) of 1923 to press charges against Major General V.K. Singh, a retired officer who also served with the country's external intelligence agency, RAW. Singh's crime: authoring a book detailing instances of corruption, nepotism and negligence within RAW. The bookIndia's External Intelligencewas published three months ago and was first reported by Outlook in its July 2 issue. But the vendetta from RAW's top brass came last week in the shape of a CBI raid on Singh's house after the cabinet secretariat filed a case accusing him of leaking classified secrets in his book.
Outlooks story of July 2, which first highlighted the revelations in Singhs book on RAW
However, on September 26, when Singh's application for anticipatory bail came up for hearing, the court refused to accept the CBI's contention that he had jeopardised national secrets in any manner. Singh got bail and the CBI can arrest him only after it had presented an application supported by evidence. While the CBI sets out to gather "evidence" against Singh under the OSA, described by most legal experts as a "draconian" act, many intelligence officials told Outlook that there is nothing secret in the book. Clearly, Singh's revelations have ruffled the powers-that-be in RAW. Instead of taking cognisance of of the concerns raised by Singh, the government has decided to nail him.
According to insiders, it all points to personal vendetta. And Singh did not pull any punches. For instance, he cites the case of a senior officer going on leave without authorisation to protest being overlooked for promotion. According to CBI sources, the officer is none other than the present RAW chief, Ashok Chaturvedi. It is a fact that he had gone on leave when Amber Sen was promoted as special secretary ahead of him. After several months on leave, Chaturvedi was promoted and subsequently took over as chief in February this year.
Sources also told Outlook that the government was upset with Singh's revelation that a communication system meant for the PM's security was bought from a private company bypassing mandatory procurement rules. Ironically, RAW, the department which pressed for action against Singh, and the investigating agency CBI, both report to the PM.
Maj Gen V.K. Singh is the latest in the line of people to be targeted under the OSA. The law, which is heavily loaded against the accused, is usually invoked whenever the state wishes to settle scores or rein in whistleblowers. Here are some examples:
Capt B.K. Subbarao was hailed as one of the finest nuclear scientists in the country. He was seconded from the Indian navy to help with the nuclear submarine programme but ended up being branded as a spy. Reason: he detected serious flaws in the designs being drawn up for the prototype at the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Trombay.
This upset the top brass in the nuclear establishment. Subbarao was hounded out of BARC and arrested under OSA at Mumbai airport in 1990 before he boarded a flight to the US. His repeated appeals to the judiciary fell on deaf ears till the prosecuting agency was directed to come up with the "evidence" it had to prove his guilt. It turned out to be Subbarao's doctoral thesis on nuclear science, submitted to IIT Powai! As the case began to crumble, Subbarao had to face 65 judges in the search for justice. Finally, two years after his arrest, Subbarao was acquitted.
Iftikar Gilani, a Delhi-based Kashmiri journalist, was picked up by the IB for allegedly accessing secrets "prejudicial to the safety and security of the nation".After several months in jail, it finally came to light that the case against Gilani was based on a book published by the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad, 13 years ago. The opinion of the director general of military intelligence (DGMI) stating that the material recovered from Gilani was not secret was kept away from the courts. Finally, after then defence minister George Fernandes directed "I think the Official Secrets Act should have been scrapped in 1947 itself when we gained independence." Aruna Roy, Activist the DGMI to personally appear in court with his revised opinion, it was taken into account. The case was dismissed.
Ajay Kumar, a low-level functionary in the Indian Parliament, was not so lucky with the OSA. The evidence against him: possession of parliamentary reports that had already been tabled. The prosecution chose to ignore the fact these were on sale in Parliament. His lawyer V.K. Ohri told Outlook: "They finally planted a hand-written map of a cantonment that even the army officers have said on record does not have any position authenticated. In fact, they don't even know whether the places marked in the crude map exist or not. Finally, in the age of Google Earth what is the relevance of a hand-drawn map?" asks Ohri. Ajay Kumar is still fighting the case.
Babulnath Maurya, a designer who served in naval headquarters, was also booked under OSA. Incredible as it may sound, the evidence submitted by the prosecution against Maurya were files which were on his desk. "Can you believe the absurdity of the case," asks Ohri, also Maurya's lawyer. "The papers which were supposed to be on his official desk were collected from his office drawer as proof that he was spying."
The OSA is a handy tool for the government because it is very vague on what is secret. A personal diary can be deemed "secret" if it is stamped by an official. Similarly, information passed on in the course of official work can become secret. And once anyone is arrested under OSA, there is little chance of bail.
Wiith such blatant misuse, it was a welcome and overdue development when the Administrative Reforms Committee (ARC), in its first report a few months ago, targeted the OSA, saying it was "enacted in the colonial era". The ARC's chairman Veerappa Moily is unequivocal in his demand that the Act be repealed. "After the enactment of the RTI Act, the OSA, has no place to survive and even its relics may no longer remain," he says. Echoing Moily is former member of the National Advisory Council and Magsaysay award winner Aruna Roy. "The OSA should have been scrapped in 1947 when we gained independence," she says.
In fact, the scrapping of the OSA is a demand that has found support from across the political spectrum with former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee, L.K Advani and Jaswant Singh stating that the OSA, at the very least, needs to be reviewed. Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi, in an article published in 2001, had pointed out that unlike the British OSA, the Indian Act continues to remain "unrevised despite decades of effort".
Calling the OSA "anachronistic", Singhvi argued that to empower society, the government must "reduce the culture of secrecy and limit the power of service providers (bureaucrats) with the reforms of the OSA".
Not only does the OSA threaten individual freedom and liberties, it has also been used as a tool to deny information as Moushumi Basu, an associate professor at the centre for international politics, jnu, found out. During her doctoral research on the World Bank, she was shocked to learn that the loan agreements executed by India with the World Bank to bail itself out of its financial crisis in 1991 are state secrets. "After the enactment of RTI, the OSA has no place to survive and even its relics may no longer remain." Veerappa Moily, ARC
Recalls Basu: "When I asked Manmohan Singh, who was then only a Rajya Sabha member, he insisted that all these papers had been tabled in Parliament. But that is not the case and they continue to be a state secret. So not only is defence under OSA but even development programmes are under its ambit," says Basu.
Veteran journalist B.G. Verghese had a similar experience when he discovered that maps of Indian rivers, freely available on the internet and in shops, was actually covered under the OSA. Points out Verghese: "Information is power and that is why the bureaucrats want to deny citizens information. But in India instead of taking corrective measures we usually shoot the messenger." B. Raman, former additional secretary with RAW, says then prime minister V.P. Singh had set up two committees during his government. One was to examine whether the intelligence agencies could be brought under parliamentary oversight and the second to review the OSA. "There was unanimous opinion within the intelligence community that the British model of parliamentary oversight should be accepted."
But in the case of Major General V.K. Singh, the government seems to have let vendetta blind it from the fact that it has no shred of evidence against him. Little wonder then that his book has so far not been banned.
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodna...;sid=1&pn=3
Outlook scooped V.K. Singh's expose on RAW. Now, he's booked under the Official Secrets Act. Is this act meant for misuse? Has several vague, "all-inclusive" provisions; anyone can be prosecuted for sharing even harmless information What is "secret" has not been defined, leaving scope for misuse Any document can be deemed secret on the opinion of an "expert"
Heavily loaded against the accused. Only Section 5 has a provision for bail which is rarely given. Is used as a vendetta tool to book whistleblowers and unpliable officials.
In an age when it is fashionable to talk about freedom of expression, the UPA government has resorted to the archaic Official Secrets Act (OSA) of 1923 to press charges against Major General V.K. Singh, a retired officer who also served with the country's external intelligence agency, RAW. Singh's crime: authoring a book detailing instances of corruption, nepotism and negligence within RAW. The bookIndia's External Intelligencewas published three months ago and was first reported by Outlook in its July 2 issue. But the vendetta from RAW's top brass came last week in the shape of a CBI raid on Singh's house after the cabinet secretariat filed a case accusing him of leaking classified secrets in his book.
Outlooks story of July 2, which first highlighted the revelations in Singhs book on RAW
However, on September 26, when Singh's application for anticipatory bail came up for hearing, the court refused to accept the CBI's contention that he had jeopardised national secrets in any manner. Singh got bail and the CBI can arrest him only after it had presented an application supported by evidence. While the CBI sets out to gather "evidence" against Singh under the OSA, described by most legal experts as a "draconian" act, many intelligence officials told Outlook that there is nothing secret in the book. Clearly, Singh's revelations have ruffled the powers-that-be in RAW. Instead of taking cognisance of of the concerns raised by Singh, the government has decided to nail him.
According to insiders, it all points to personal vendetta. And Singh did not pull any punches. For instance, he cites the case of a senior officer going on leave without authorisation to protest being overlooked for promotion. According to CBI sources, the officer is none other than the present RAW chief, Ashok Chaturvedi. It is a fact that he had gone on leave when Amber Sen was promoted as special secretary ahead of him. After several months on leave, Chaturvedi was promoted and subsequently took over as chief in February this year.
Sources also told Outlook that the government was upset with Singh's revelation that a communication system meant for the PM's security was bought from a private company bypassing mandatory procurement rules. Ironically, RAW, the department which pressed for action against Singh, and the investigating agency CBI, both report to the PM.
Maj Gen V.K. Singh is the latest in the line of people to be targeted under the OSA. The law, which is heavily loaded against the accused, is usually invoked whenever the state wishes to settle scores or rein in whistleblowers. Here are some examples:
Capt B.K. Subbarao was hailed as one of the finest nuclear scientists in the country. He was seconded from the Indian navy to help with the nuclear submarine programme but ended up being branded as a spy. Reason: he detected serious flaws in the designs being drawn up for the prototype at the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Trombay.
This upset the top brass in the nuclear establishment. Subbarao was hounded out of BARC and arrested under OSA at Mumbai airport in 1990 before he boarded a flight to the US. His repeated appeals to the judiciary fell on deaf ears till the prosecuting agency was directed to come up with the "evidence" it had to prove his guilt. It turned out to be Subbarao's doctoral thesis on nuclear science, submitted to IIT Powai! As the case began to crumble, Subbarao had to face 65 judges in the search for justice. Finally, two years after his arrest, Subbarao was acquitted.
Iftikar Gilani, a Delhi-based Kashmiri journalist, was picked up by the IB for allegedly accessing secrets "prejudicial to the safety and security of the nation".After several months in jail, it finally came to light that the case against Gilani was based on a book published by the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad, 13 years ago. The opinion of the director general of military intelligence (DGMI) stating that the material recovered from Gilani was not secret was kept away from the courts. Finally, after then defence minister George Fernandes directed "I think the Official Secrets Act should have been scrapped in 1947 itself when we gained independence." Aruna Roy, Activist the DGMI to personally appear in court with his revised opinion, it was taken into account. The case was dismissed.
Ajay Kumar, a low-level functionary in the Indian Parliament, was not so lucky with the OSA. The evidence against him: possession of parliamentary reports that had already been tabled. The prosecution chose to ignore the fact these were on sale in Parliament. His lawyer V.K. Ohri told Outlook: "They finally planted a hand-written map of a cantonment that even the army officers have said on record does not have any position authenticated. In fact, they don't even know whether the places marked in the crude map exist or not. Finally, in the age of Google Earth what is the relevance of a hand-drawn map?" asks Ohri. Ajay Kumar is still fighting the case.
Babulnath Maurya, a designer who served in naval headquarters, was also booked under OSA. Incredible as it may sound, the evidence submitted by the prosecution against Maurya were files which were on his desk. "Can you believe the absurdity of the case," asks Ohri, also Maurya's lawyer. "The papers which were supposed to be on his official desk were collected from his office drawer as proof that he was spying."
The OSA is a handy tool for the government because it is very vague on what is secret. A personal diary can be deemed "secret" if it is stamped by an official. Similarly, information passed on in the course of official work can become secret. And once anyone is arrested under OSA, there is little chance of bail.
Wiith such blatant misuse, it was a welcome and overdue development when the Administrative Reforms Committee (ARC), in its first report a few months ago, targeted the OSA, saying it was "enacted in the colonial era". The ARC's chairman Veerappa Moily is unequivocal in his demand that the Act be repealed. "After the enactment of the RTI Act, the OSA, has no place to survive and even its relics may no longer remain," he says. Echoing Moily is former member of the National Advisory Council and Magsaysay award winner Aruna Roy. "The OSA should have been scrapped in 1947 when we gained independence," she says.
In fact, the scrapping of the OSA is a demand that has found support from across the political spectrum with former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee, L.K Advani and Jaswant Singh stating that the OSA, at the very least, needs to be reviewed. Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi, in an article published in 2001, had pointed out that unlike the British OSA, the Indian Act continues to remain "unrevised despite decades of effort".
Calling the OSA "anachronistic", Singhvi argued that to empower society, the government must "reduce the culture of secrecy and limit the power of service providers (bureaucrats) with the reforms of the OSA".
Not only does the OSA threaten individual freedom and liberties, it has also been used as a tool to deny information as Moushumi Basu, an associate professor at the centre for international politics, jnu, found out. During her doctoral research on the World Bank, she was shocked to learn that the loan agreements executed by India with the World Bank to bail itself out of its financial crisis in 1991 are state secrets. "After the enactment of RTI, the OSA has no place to survive and even its relics may no longer remain." Veerappa Moily, ARC
Recalls Basu: "When I asked Manmohan Singh, who was then only a Rajya Sabha member, he insisted that all these papers had been tabled in Parliament. But that is not the case and they continue to be a state secret. So not only is defence under OSA but even development programmes are under its ambit," says Basu.
Veteran journalist B.G. Verghese had a similar experience when he discovered that maps of Indian rivers, freely available on the internet and in shops, was actually covered under the OSA. Points out Verghese: "Information is power and that is why the bureaucrats want to deny citizens information. But in India instead of taking corrective measures we usually shoot the messenger." B. Raman, former additional secretary with RAW, says then prime minister V.P. Singh had set up two committees during his government. One was to examine whether the intelligence agencies could be brought under parliamentary oversight and the second to review the OSA. "There was unanimous opinion within the intelligence community that the British model of parliamentary oversight should be accepted."
But in the case of Major General V.K. Singh, the government seems to have let vendetta blind it from the fact that it has no shred of evidence against him. Little wonder then that his book has so far not been banned.
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodna...;sid=1&pn=3
Tiki Tam Tam
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akzaman
And point is?
And point is?
Bull
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he is a bot, cant reply.
Tiki Tam Tam
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No, he has his value.
He is like a Secretary putting up papers for the conference!
All secretaries and personal assistants do it and without comments too!
He is like a Secretary putting up papers for the conference!
All secretaries and personal assistants do it and without comments too!
No Treason, Just Cold Reason :V.K. Singh raises many issues. If addressed, they should make RAW a better intelligence agency.
Here are the "secrets" that Singh revealed in his book about the functioning of RAW:
PM's Security: According to Singh, the communication system used by the Special Protection Group, tasked with protecting the present and former PMs, had a major problem. To quote from his book: "I could see that Motorola had very long arms, and it was quite likely that nothing could be done. Since the issue concerned the PM's security, I felt that his office must be informed." The communication system had not undergone the mandatory hacker-resistivity test. This ought to have been done by the Systems Analysis Group (SAG), a DRDO organisation. However, sources told Outlook that it was then secretary (security) Hari Shankar who deleted the stated need for such a test. Incidentally, the panel responsible for buying the system had accepted V.K. Singh's recommendations that indigenous software be developed.
No Accountability: Singh makes a strong case for parliamentary oversight and audit of RAW expenditure and operations
Kargil Tapes: V.K. Singh revealed that sharing the tapes of General Pervez Musharraf's conversation with his chief of staff with the media was a massive blow to India's technical intelligence capabilities.
The Rabinder Singh Episode: The defection of Rabinder Singh, a joint secretary in RAW, sent shock-waves through Indian intelligence. V.K. Singh writes that part of the blame falls on the shoulders of special secretary Amar Bhushan. No action was taken against him or any senior official after Rabinder defected to the United States with help from the CIA. Sources told Outlook that nearly 68 officers were found to be culpable in the episode. However most retired with full pensionary benefits and a few-middle rung officers were posted out of RAW.
The VHF/UHF Case: Singh's book reveals how antennas worth Rs 15,000 were purchased for Rs 15 lakh. Worse, at times antennas with the same technical specifications were being purchased for prices that had a huge difference in cost. With intelligence agencies falling outside the ambit of any audit, RAW is free to spend thousands of crores without any questions asked.
No Treason, Just Cold Reason : outlookindia.com
Here are the "secrets" that Singh revealed in his book about the functioning of RAW:
PM's Security: According to Singh, the communication system used by the Special Protection Group, tasked with protecting the present and former PMs, had a major problem. To quote from his book: "I could see that Motorola had very long arms, and it was quite likely that nothing could be done. Since the issue concerned the PM's security, I felt that his office must be informed." The communication system had not undergone the mandatory hacker-resistivity test. This ought to have been done by the Systems Analysis Group (SAG), a DRDO organisation. However, sources told Outlook that it was then secretary (security) Hari Shankar who deleted the stated need for such a test. Incidentally, the panel responsible for buying the system had accepted V.K. Singh's recommendations that indigenous software be developed.
No Accountability: Singh makes a strong case for parliamentary oversight and audit of RAW expenditure and operations
Kargil Tapes: V.K. Singh revealed that sharing the tapes of General Pervez Musharraf's conversation with his chief of staff with the media was a massive blow to India's technical intelligence capabilities.
The Rabinder Singh Episode: The defection of Rabinder Singh, a joint secretary in RAW, sent shock-waves through Indian intelligence. V.K. Singh writes that part of the blame falls on the shoulders of special secretary Amar Bhushan. No action was taken against him or any senior official after Rabinder defected to the United States with help from the CIA. Sources told Outlook that nearly 68 officers were found to be culpable in the episode. However most retired with full pensionary benefits and a few-middle rung officers were posted out of RAW.
The VHF/UHF Case: Singh's book reveals how antennas worth Rs 15,000 were purchased for Rs 15 lakh. Worse, at times antennas with the same technical specifications were being purchased for prices that had a huge difference in cost. With intelligence agencies falling outside the ambit of any audit, RAW is free to spend thousands of crores without any questions asked.
No Treason, Just Cold Reason : outlookindia.com
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Another report from akzaman for information and without comment.
Friend, have you no comments to offer or are you a mere information bureau without any opinion?
Friend, have you no comments to offer or are you a mere information bureau without any opinion?
IceCold
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What is there to comment about. He has quoted the words of your ex army chief saying so. Actually Indians are suppose to comment on this.
Tiki Tam Tam
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Icecold,
He just cuts and pastes and does not give any opinion.
Are you suggesting that he is Google news?
Or is this forum a part of Google News and not a discussion forum.
Got the difference?
He just cuts and pastes and does not give any opinion.
Are you suggesting that he is Google news?
Or is this forum a part of Google News and not a discussion forum.
Got the difference?
IceCold
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Perhaps, but none of the indian members expressed any view on that.
Tiki Tam Tam
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Why should any Indian member has to respond?
Don't understand the logic of your defence of a news agency called akzaman!
OK fine.
Why do you comment on threads?
What makes you different and not post news without comments as if you were a paid advertisement on this forum!
akzaman, IIRC has never commented. Therefore, is an electronic bug that is triggered to only post news and that too selective news?
And why should Indians alone have to respond to inane routine news?
Who responds to a mute? I am sure all are here to debate and not be mutes.
Don't understand the logic of your defence of a news agency called akzaman!
OK fine.
Why do you comment on threads?
What makes you different and not post news without comments as if you were a paid advertisement on this forum!
akzaman, IIRC has never commented. Therefore, is an electronic bug that is triggered to only post news and that too selective news?
And why should Indians alone have to respond to inane routine news?
Who responds to a mute? I am sure all are here to debate and not be mutes.
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And nothing happened?
OK.
Good for this news agency anyway from Bangladesh, that is if his flag is his country!!
A Razzakar?
I say so because he has not even said one good word for Bangladesh either!
OK.
Good for this news agency anyway from Bangladesh, that is if his flag is his country!!
A Razzakar?
I say so because he has not even said one good word for Bangladesh either!
IceCold
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My point was Mr.Salim that none of us have actually commented on his posts rather we are doing on him and to me its a personal attack. Anyhow indians should comment on this as it was about RAW and your ex chief has made these comments, so indians can comment better besides if we do most of you guys would rather consider it a flame bait and not actual comments.
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