New Delhi: The Centre has told the Delhi High Court that reports submitted by the Maharashtra government on its probe into the 2006 Mumbai train blasts were secret documents and cannot be provided to the man who has been sentenced to death in the case.
The submission has been made by the Ministry of Home Affairs in its affidavit filed in response to the plea by the convict -- Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddique -- who has claimed that he was falsely implicated in the blasts case and it amounted to violation of his human rights.
Justice Prathiba M Singh, before whom the matter was listed on Wednesday, adjourned it to July 22.
On July 11, 2006, seven RDX explosions ripped through as many Western line local trains in Mumbai, leading to the death of 189 people and injuring 829.
Siddique, represented by advocate Arpit Bhargava, has also sought the Andhra Pradesh government's dossier on the probe into the alleged involvement of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) group in the blasts.
Read: Women personnel of Assam Rifles participate in counter-terrorism ops
He has sought these reports to support his claim of innocence.
The MHA has declined to provide the Maharashtra government reports on the ground that those are classified and with regard to the Andhra Pradesh government's dossiers, the ministry has said in its affidavit that it does not have the same.
The ministry, represented by central government counsel (senior panel) Rahul Sharma, has contended that it has rightly claimed exemption from providing the information sought under the RTI and that it has not breached any law, rule, regulation or guideline as claimed by the petitioner.
It has claimed that the plea is devoid of any merit, was an abuse of the process of law and deserves to be dismissed with costs.
Read: India at forefront of initiatives to prevent non-communicable diseases: Modi
PTI
