The gag Order garbed to silence reporting of corrupt activities

Dear Friends

I wonder if you have read the article in The Telegraph of 13 June 2008 (The link is given below). This has very far reaching implications, especially for the Army. According to the news report the order of the personnel ministry has been published in the Gazette of India on March 31, 2008. It is all encompassing and stringent. Failure to adhere to the undertaking "shall be treated as grave misconduct" and the official concerned will be penalised with withdrawal/ reduction of pension "in full or part" and prosecution.

I am giving below some legal issues concerning the order:

The order violates Article 19(a) of the Constitution of India dealing with Freedom of speech and expression.

Armed Forces do not come under the purview of the Department of Personnel. Gazette notifications for Armed Forces personnel are published by the MOD.

The pension of Armed Forces personnel cannot be stopped/ reduced. It is immune from attachment even by a court of law vide the Pension Act, 1871, (Section 11).

In case military officers are prohibited from writing memoirs, it will have a negative effect on military history, which is a basic ingredient of training of military officers. It forms part of the curriculum of promotion examinations and entrance examinations of the Defence Services Staff College. The study material for the subject consists of memoirs and accounts of military campaigns written by retired officers. In India, books written by DK Palit, RD Palsokar, KC Praval, SK Sinha, PS Bhagat, SL Menezes, Harbaksh Singh and Satyindra Singh form essential reading for all military officers.

The order applies only to officers of organizations such as RAW, IB, CBI, the Armed Forces and the paramilitary forces. It does not apply to bureaucrats. Officers of the IAS who have held the appointments of Cabinet Secretary, Defence Secretary and Home Secretary are privy to much more sensitive information than most officers in these organisations.

The order does not apply to politicians, such as the PM or ministers who have held portfolios of defence, home and external affairs. Surely they know a lot more than the officers in these organisations.

Memoirs published by retired officers relate to events that occurred several years earlier. The information cannot be said to "prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific, or economic interests of the state, or in relation with a foreign state or which would lead to incitement of an offence".

I am sure the order will not stand the scrutiny of courts. But until that happens, it will deter all forms of writing on security related issues. It is difficult to believe that this is happening in the largest democracy in the World. You may consider getting the views of others.

Maj Gen VK Singh (Retd)
Corps of Signals
Military Historian

Gag for life on spooks of RAW, the IB, CBI, the army and various paramilitary forces will come under the blanket ban. Those who really know can no longer tell