Tihar to approach HC to block revealing Afzal Guru's execution records

New Delhi: The records of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s hanging are unlikely to be made public soon as Tihar prison has decided to challenge the Delhi High Court and the CIC order to disclose the documents. The communication in this regard has been sent to Aligarh-based RTI applicant Paras Nath Singh by the Director General of Prisons at Tihar. [caption id=“attachment_1805111” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Afzal Guru’s prison execution records unlikely to be made public.[/caption] “It is informed that Prison Department is going to file an appeal before the High Court of Delhi against the decision of CIC,” Sunil Kumar, Law Officer (Prisons) said. Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu had directed the Tihar authorities to make public specific records related to the execution of Guru on September 26. The Commissioner had given 10 days to the authorities to comply with the order. According to the legal position, Tihar authorities should have either procured a stay from the High Court through a writ petition or provided the information. “They (Tihar) cannot stay the operation of CIC order which is binding on them unless they get the stay from the High Court. It has been more than a month that they neither went to high court nor complied with the CIC order,” Singh told PTI. The Central Information Commission (CIC) had directed the country’s largest prison, Tihar, to make public Guru’s death warrant along with copies of communication sent to his family informing them about the date of execution. Convicted for his role in the December 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament, 34-year-old Guru was hanged on February 9, 2013. In his stern order, Acharyulu had said any RTI application (in this case seeking details of Guru’s execution) “cannot be rejected lock, stock and barrel without application of mind and citing exemption under Section 8 without justifying the defence”. The Commission directed the Tihar authorities to provide a certified copy of the death warrant for the execution of Guru to the RTI applicant. The case relates to Singh’s application seeking death warrant and video recording of Guru’s execution among other details. The Tihar authorities had refused to provide any information, saying it would endanger national security. “The Commission finds this rejection of RTI application in toto is without any application of mind and without examining each and every point, separating the information that can be given from one that cannot be given using doctrine of severability provided under section 10,” Sridhar had said. PTI