New Delhi: The government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that documents related to the Rafale fighter jet deal have been stolen from the Defence Ministry and threatened a newspaper with the Official Secrets Act for publishing articles based on them.
The 'stolen' documents on the Rafael deal case has once again stirred the hornet's nest and brought back the incidents where files of several key cases have gone missing. Let us have trace back to the important cases where the files have been stolen:
Rafale Deal
Representing the Centre, Attorney General K K Venugopal said before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that documents related to Rafale deal that have appeared in the media and were cited by those seeking a recall of the December 14 ruling giving a clean chit to the government on the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets, were confidential papers stolen from the Defence Ministry.
He was referring to the eight-page dissent note by the three-member of India Negotiating Team (INT).
He also referred to an article in The Hindu by its former Editor N. Ram related to the note by the three members of INT.
Referring to the Official Secret Act, the Attorney General persisted that the source of the document had to be disclosed.
Emergency Case File
In 2012, the government had claimed that records pertaining to the imposition of 1975 Emergency had gone missing from the Prime Minister's Office and could not be found even after a 'thorough search'.
The records relate to the correspondence between then PM Indira Gandhi and President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed regarding the proclamation of Emergency in 1975.
Ayodhya Dispute Case File
In the controversial Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi dispute case, the Allahabad High Court had directed the CBI to look into the case of 23 missing files in 2009.
The files related to the Ayodhya dispute which had gone missing in 2000 after Subhasbhaan Saad, the Officer on Special Duty who was carrying the dossier to New Delhi, reportedly died in a train accident, news agency PTI had reported.
Coal Gate Scam Case
Coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal admitted on August 2013 that some files from 1993 to 2004 related to the coal block allocation scam were missing.
"It is true that some files from 1993 to 2004 are missing. Attempts are on, we are in touch with CMPDIL, ministry of steel. If they have the files, they should make it available," he said.
When asked how many files were missing, the minister said that he does not have exact information about them and it could be 8-10 or more, while terming the issue of missing files as matter of concern.
The CBI, on 31 July, 2017, had said that at least five crucial files related to allotment of coal blocks during 2006-09 have not been received by it despite providing specific details.
Netaji Files
Two specific files, including one from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), related to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose were missing, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said in the Lok Sabha on April 26, 2016.
The file that was missing from the PMO relates to the "proposal" to bring back the ashes of Netaji from Tokyo and on building a national memorial in his honour at the Red Fort, he said.
Key File Relating To Art 35A
A 63-year-old file containing legal opinion on Article 35A went missing from North Block, which houses the PMO and the Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi.
Article 35 A allows the Jammu and Kashmir legislature to frame laws without attracting any challenge on the ground of violating the right to equality of people from other states.
According to sources of a media house, the 1954 file contained the then attorney-general's opinion justifying the insertion of Article 35A into the Constitution that year through a presidential order rather than a constitutional amendment.
Ishrat Jahan Encounter Case File
The Ishrat Jahan missing file was one of the biggest controversies of 2016.
Ishrat, a teenage girl from Mumbra near Mumbai, her friend Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Sheikh and two others were gunned down by city crime branch officials allegedly in a fake encounter on June 15, 2004 on the outskirts of the city.
A special investigation team (SIT), constituted by the Gujarat High Court, had concluded that it was a "fake" encounter and handed over the case to the CBI.
The papers, which disappeared from the Home Ministry, include the copy of an affidavit vetted by the then Attorney General and submitted in the Gujarat High Court in 2009 and the draft of the second affidavit vetted by the AG on which changes were made.
Two letters written by the then Home Secretary G K Pillai to the then Attorney General late G E Vahanvati and the copy of the draft affidavit also remained untraceable.
