Fate of RTI in J&K: 630 cases of murder, disappearance, rape? Govt pleads ignorance

By Venkatesh Nayak*
A set of documents relating to my recent Right to Information (RTI) intervention to find out about the fate of the complaint cases filed before the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commissions (J&K SHRC) after it was wound up in October 2019 has revealed that hundreds of cases pending before it are locked up in Srinagar, yet the J&K Law Department pleads ignorance.
Parliament approved the bifurcation of the erstwhile State of J&K into two Union Territories in August 2019 after the President of India revoked Article 370 of the Constitution. The J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 repealed a plethora of laws enacted by the erstwhile State Legislature, one of which was the J&K Protection of Human Rights Act under which &K SSHR was functioning to entertain complaints of human rights violations from residents of J&K.
The J&K SHRC was also wound up in October 2019 when the J&K Reorganisation Act came into force. After J&K's status change and bifurcation, the Central Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 was made applicable to J&K and Ladakh. Interestingly, the J&K Reorganisation Act did not provide for any transitional provisions to protect the complaint cases pending before the J&K SHRC from abatement at the time of its winding up.
In August 2021, the Scroll published an article pointing to the uncertainty about the fate of thousands of cases despite the local Law Commission recommending the establishment of a separate HRC for J&K. Earlier, in July 2020, a group of UN Special Rapporteurs sent a special communication to the Government of India (GoI) urging action on the pending cases which accounted for more than 630 cases of allegations of murder, enforced disappearances, rape, and other kinds of human rights violations allegedly perpetrated by security forces on residents of J&K.
These special communications are uploaded on the UN website after a period of sixty days or so with or without the reply from the concerned Government. GoI has not sent any reply to this communication as on date.

RTI Interventions

So, in November 2021, I filed an RTI application with the J&K Department of Law which was the nodal agency for the implementation of erstwhile J&K Protection of Human Rights Act. I asked about the number of pending cases, list of case details prepared, if any, action taken to ensure their transfer to the National Human Rights Commission, if any, a copy of the Law Commission's report mentioned in the Scroll article, etc.
The CPIO replied that he did not have any information on all but one of the RTI queries and supplied the name and number of the Junior Assistant of the erstwhile J&K SHRC who was the erstwhile custodian of the case files.
When I spoke with the Junior Assistant, he told me that he and other colleagues had worked on preparing the list of files held by the J&K SHRC and had handed it over to the Law Department. All of this is explained in my first appeal. I demanded full disclosure of the information described in the RTI application.
Now the First Appellate Authority (FAA) of the Law Department -- the Special Secretary -- a high ranking official, has only reiterated the CPIO's reply except to the extent of pointing out that the files are lying locked up at the premises of the erstwhile office of the J&KSHRC.
After receiving the Law Department CPIO's reply, I had filed an identical RTI application with the J&K Home Department, hoping that they might have some information. The Home Department washed its hands off the matter by quietly transferring the RTI application to the Law Department. The CPIO of the Law Department cited his reply to my earlier RTI and disposed of this one also.

Problem with replies

When J&K's status was changed, the Central Department for Personnel and Training (DoPT) worked with the Central Information Commission (CIC) and got the appeals and complaints pending before the J&K State Information Commission transferred to Delhi, thanks to the initiative taken by the then Chief Information Commissioner of the CIC, Bimal Julka. These cases were disposed of by the CIC one by one. I got a copy of that correspondence and file notings also under RTI.
Unfortunately, neither the J&K Government nor the Central Government have acted with any degree of urgency with regard to the pending human rights cases which are far more serious in nature. I have not filed any RTI application with the NHRC to find out about their role as I did not have anything to depend upon to ask them questions. Till date there are no transitional provisions with regard to shifting of cases filed under the State's HR Act to the NHRC for disposal under the Central HR Act.

In short, justice for the complainants has remained locked up in the erstwhile J&KSHRC's premises for more than two years (or 27 months). After implementing the J&K Reorganisation Act the Minister for DoPT who is an MP from Jammu made a false claim that the Government had brought RTI to J&K finally, ignoring the fact that J&K had a much stronger RTI Act of its own since 2009.
However he and his counterparts in the Union Home Ministry have remained silent about the fate of these pending human rights cases in J&K. To the best of my knowledge, no question has been raised on the floor of Parliament, on this issue, till date. If this is the attitude towards people in J&K how will peace be achieved ever? Peace without justice is the peace of a graveyard.
The purpose of bodies like human rights commissions is to provide an avenue independent of the Government for redressing complaints of violations of human rights. If such bodies also fail the people they are meant to serve, where will complainants go?

Going to Courts is an expensive proposition for citizens without adequate means or competent legal aid. HRCs were set up to provide a more citizen-friendly and inexpensive mechanism for inquiring and redressing complaints of violations of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
What needs to be done to ensure that the pending human rights complaint cases are entertained by a competent authority and disposed of as per law? Readers might like to respond with options about what to do next.
---
*Transparency advocate and human rights activist, New Delhi/Bengaluru

Comments

The silencing of conscience: Ideological attacks on India’s judiciary and free thought

By Sunil Kumar* “Volunteers will pick up sticks to remove every obstacle that comes in the way of Sanatan and saints’ work.” — RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (November 6, 2024, Chitrakoot) Eleven months later, on October 6, 2025, a man who threw a shoe inside the Supreme Court shouted, “India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan.” This incident was not an isolated act but a continuation of a pattern seen over the past decade—attacks on intellectuals, writers, activists, and journalists, sometimes in the name of institutions, sometimes by individual actors or organizations.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Citizens’ group to recall Justice Chagla’s alarm as India faces ‘undeclared' Emergency

By A Representative In a move likely to raise eyebrows among the powers-that-be, a voluntary organisation founded during the “dark days” of the Indira Gandhi -imposed Emergency has announced that it will hold a public conference in Ahmedabad to highlight what its office-bearers call today’s “undeclared Emergency.”

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

World Bank arm accused of hiding crucial report on Gujarat’s Tata Mundra power project

By A Representative The Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) has accused the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the accountability arm of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), of concealing crucial evidence related to the Tata Mundra coal power project in Gujarat during the period when the case was being heard in U.S. courts. In a press statement released on October 10, 2025, CFA said that the CAO’s final monitoring report, which was completed in 2019 but released only in September 2025, revealed that IFC had failed to take remedial action for years, even as environmental and livelihood harms to local communities worsened.

Counterview

Search This Blog