The Right to Information (RTI) laws have come to the aid of a former military personnel court martialled over 30 years ago in relation to the Bangladesh War in 1971.

Dr Harish Uppal, an ex-captain of the Indian Army, had moved the Army Headquarters, Ministry of Defence, in November 2005 seeking a pardon. The authorities denied him pardon, and conveyed the decision in July 2006 without annexing any reasons for reaching a conclusion.

Uppal then filed an RTI application with the Ministry for the documents and comments of various departments and the Chief of Army Staff to “know the truth about the refusal to grant pardon”. But he was denied access on the ground that such documents were held in “fiduciary relationship”, and exempt from disclosure under the RTI.

Allowing his appeal on July 31, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah termed court-martial proceedings as “quasi-judicial” in nature and an authority is bound to act in a transparent manner, he held.