Sources have stated that a plea was filed under the RTI Act by A.G. Perarivalan, one of the life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, seeking to know the grounds of actor Sanjay Dutt’s premature release from prison has been rejected on the grounds that the information sought related to a third party.
Perarivalan, who would complete 25 years of imprisonment on June 11, 2016, has filed an appeal pointing out that a decision taken by a government authority based on discretion could not be hidden from public scrutiny by claiming protection of third-party rights.
Venkatesh Nayak, program coordinator, Access to Information Program, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has said that the grounds for rejecting Perarivalan’s plea were unreasonable and were completely invalid.
Meanwhile Peoples Union for Civil Liberties general secretary V. Suresh has said premature release of a convict is an issue that pertains to public policy and should be made public and the fundamental principle of the RTI Act is that the petitioner need not reveal what he or she intends to do with the information sought.
