Charges of sexual harassment against high level Sashastra Seema Bal officials
29 May, 2013An application was filed with the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get information regarding charges of sexual harassment leveled against the high level SSB officials like Commandant, Deputy Inspector General and Inspector General.
The reply from the SSB states that the Sashastra Seema Bal is exempted from the purview of the transparency Act under its section 24. The Section 24(1) Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to the intelligence and security organisations specified in the Second Schedule, being organisations established by the Central Government or any information furnished by such organisations to that Government: Provided that the information pertaining to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations shall not be excluded under this sub-section: of the RTI Act reads as follows:
“Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to the intelligence and security organisations specified in the Second Schedule, being organisations established by the Central Government or any information furnished by such organisations to that Government: Provided that the information pertaining to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations shall not be excluded under this sub- section…”
The applicant has claimed that though the SSB falls under the second schedule of the act, the proviso specifically provides for giving the information in case of the cases of human rights violation. Further, the central information commission (CIC) has held in many cases that sexual harassment amounts to human rights violation and hence the demanded information must not be exempted under the act.