Skip to main content

President’s rule in Arunachal: Place reasons in public domain

Arunachal Pradesh Raj Bhavan
By Venkatesh Nayak*
The border State of Arunachal Pradesh in the northeastern corner of India in the news again – for all the wrong reasons – again. For several weeks crisis had been brewing over the existence or the lack of majority support for the Indian National Congress-led Government in that State. Thanks to the electronic media, video clippings of some meetings between some of the legislators and the Governor of that State showed the extent of distrust that exists between them.
On 26 January, 2016 after India celebrated its 67th Republic day, the President of India issued a Proclamation under Article 356 of the Constitution taking over the reins of the government of Arunachal Pradesh. Ostensibly this action was taken on the basis of report(s) received from the Governor and the subsequent recommendation of the Union Cabinet to the President of India about the “breakdown of the constitutional machinery” in that State. The President is reported to have sought some clarifications on the Cabinet’s recommendation before issuing the Proclamation under Article 356.
The entire matter is now before the Supreme Court of India. The Apex Court demanded production of the report(s) of the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh that resulted in the imposition of President’s rule in that State. According to media reports the Additional Solicitor General is sought to have opposed the disclosure of the report(s) to the petitioners. Unfazed by this refusal, the Apex Court is said to have directed the production of the report(s) in sealed cover within a short period of time. Latest media reports indicate that the report(s) have since been submitted to the Apex Court in sealed cover.
The stance of the Additional Solicitor General seems to be in direct opposition to the stance taken in the past about the need for transparency of these reports by at least one senior member of the Union Cabinet, Manohar Parrikar, currently the Union Minister for Defence.

As Leader of the Opposition in Goa, Parrikar sought the Governor’s report under the RTI Act in 2008

In July-August, 2007 the political developments in Goa resulted in the then State Government losing its majority. Eventually the State was placed under President’s Rule. Manohar Parrikar who was the Leader of the Opposition then, sought copies of the Governor’s report(s) sent to the President of India under Article 356 of the Constitution. In September 2007, he is said to have filed a formal request for information under The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) with the Raj Bhavan. The Public Information Officer (PIO) of Goa Raj Bhavan rejected the request claiming that the Governor was not a public authority under the RTI Act and was therefore exempted from its coverage.
Eventually, the matter escalated to the Goa State Information Commission (SIC) which ruled in favour of disclosure of the Governor’s reports. The Raj Bhavan challenged the SIC’s decision before the Panjim Bench of the Bombay High Court. The single-judge Bench upheld the decision. That order was also challenged by the Raj Bhavan before the Division Bench (DB) of the Bombay High Court. The DB also ruled in favour of disclosure detailing why there must be transparency in relation to such reports. It rejected the contention of the Governor’s Secretariat that his position was akin to that of the King of the United Kingdom – answerable to none, being a sovereign authority. At all these levels, the RTI applicant who is currently the Defence Minister was defended by his lawyers who argued in favour of transparency and disclosure of the Article 356 report(s) of the Governor.
Finally in 2012, the Goa Raj Bhavan challenged the DB judgement before the Supreme Court of India making similar claims against disclosure. The matter was initially heard by a Bench headed by Justice Dalveer Bhandari. After he moved on to the International Court of Justice, there has been no effective hearing in this case. It has become a case of “tareeq pe tareeq” a la Sunny Deol in that popular Bollywood film, “Damini”.
CHRI has intervened in the aforementioned Supreme Court case to argue how and why the Governor is a public authority under the RTI Act. We also pointed out that the Rashtrapati Bhawan regularly responds to RTI applications. The Governor, therefore, cannot claim any higher privilege. Although written submissions have been filed, oral arguments are pending due to the repeated postponement of the hearing. In between, elections were held in Goa and Manohar Parrikar was elected Chief Minister. Obviously, there was no need to continue the litigation any more. CHRI wrote to him recommending that the Raj Bhavan be advised to withdraw the case to prevent wastage of taxpayer’s money on a non-issue. We are still waiting for a response to this letter. What is perplexing though is how expectations of and commitment to transparency change with a change in the chair that one occupies.

Should Article 356 reports be in the public domain?

The ultimate question is – should Governor’s reports be in the public domain. Under Section 4(1)(c) of the RTI Act, the government has a duty to disclose all relevant facts while announcing important decisions that affect the public at large. The decision to impose President’s Rule in a State undoubtedly falls in this category. Yet any reader will appreciate that the Proclamation of President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh contains no details about why such a step was taken.
It is difficult to believe that a report made under Article 356 of the Constitution will contain such explosive material that its disclosure in the public domain will be injurious to the public interest. In the case of Rameshwar Prasad & ors. vs Union of India & Anr. [Writ Petition (Civil) 257 of 2005] the Apex Court has cited the entire contents of the Bihar Governor’s reports sent under Article 356 to the President of India prior to the imposition of President’s Rule in that State, in 2005.

So unless it can be shown that disclosing the contents of the Arunachal Pradesh Governor’s report(s) under Article 356 can cause harm to any public interest which is recognised as a legitimate ground for refusal of access to information under the RTI Act, it must be placed in the public domain so that people may appreciate the circumstances that led to the decision and also debate its necessity in an informed manner.

Earlier this week, I have sought copies of all correspondence including the Article 356 report(s) relating to Arunachal Pradesh under the RTI Act as a test case. Now that the documents stand submitted to the Apex Court in sealed cover, we must wait for the Court to decide on disclosure of the report(s) to the petitioners and other parties. The fate of my RTI will also depend on the Apex Court’s decision. Until then it is a “Quest for Transparency” as mentioned on the Prime Minister’s website.

—

*Programme Coordinator, Access to Information Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

10,000 students deprived of classes as Ahmedabad school remains shut: MCC writes to Gujarat CM

By A Representative   The Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) has written to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, urging him to immediately reopen the Seventh Day Adventist School in Maninagar, Ahmedabad, where classes have been suspended for nearly two weeks. The MCC claims that the suspension, following a violent incident, violates the constitutional right to education of thousands of children.
Post a Comment
»

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.
Post a Comment
»

Gujarat minority rights group seeks suspension of Botad police officials for brutal assault on minor

By A Representative   A human rights group, the Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) Gujarat,  has written to the Director General of Police (DGP), Gandhinagar, demanding the immediate suspension and criminal action against police personnel of Botad police station for allegedly brutally assaulting a minor boy from the Muslim community.
Post a Comment
»

On Teachers’ Day, remembering Mother Teresa as the teacher of compassion

By Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ   It is Teachers’ Day once again! Significantly, the day also marks the Feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta (still lovingly called Mother Teresa). In 2012, the United Nations, as a fitting tribute to her, declared this day the International Day of Charity. A day pregnant with meaning—one that we must celebrate as meaningfully as possible.
Post a Comment
»

What mainstream economists won’t tell you about Chinese modernisation

By Shiran Illanperuma  China’s modernisation has been one of the most remarkable processes of the 21st century and one that has sparked endless academic debate. Meng Jie (孟捷), a distinguished professor from the School of Marxism at Fudan University in Shanghai, has spent the better part of his career unpacking this process to better understand what has taken place.
Post a Comment
»

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative   A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey  visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification. 
Post a Comment
»

'Govts must walk the talk on gender equality, right to health, human rights to deliver SDGs by 2030'

By A Representative  With just 64 months left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global health and rights advocates have called upon governments to honour their commitments on gender equality and the human right to health. Speaking ahead of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), experts warned that rising anti-rights and anti-gender pushes are threatening hard-won progress on SDG-3 (health and wellbeing) and SDG-5 (gender equality).
Post a Comment
»

Is U.S. fast losing its financial and technological edge under Trump’s second tenure?

By Dr. Manoj Kumar Mishra*  The United States, along with its Western European allies, once promoted globalization as a democratic force that would deliver shared prosperity and balanced growth. That promise has unraveled. Globalization, instead of building an even world, has produced one defined by inequality, asymmetry of power, and new vulnerabilities. For decades, Washington successfully turned this system to its advantage. Today, however, under Trump’s second administration, America is attempting to exploit the weaknesses of others without acknowledging how exposed it has become itself.
Post a Comment
»

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”
Post a Comment
»