'A Virtual Gag Order': Army Veterans Move Bombay High Court Against Govt Sanction For Publication By Retired Personnel

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday sought replies from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Defence in a petition filed by two war veterans against a notification imposing certain restrictions on the publication of writings by ex-security and intelligence officers without prior government approval. The petitioners call the notification "a virtual gag order" and retrogressive which goes against the principles and values of the Constitution. A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Madhav Jamdar sought replies on the plea filed by Sandesh Singalkar (51), ex-Indian Airforce and Kargil war medallion, and Colonel Suresh Patil, who was critically wounded in the 1971 Indo-Pak war and retired in 1993. The petition challenges a notification from May, 31, 2021 to amend the Central Civil Service (Pension) Rules 1972. The notification bars publication of "material knowledge related to domain of the organisation and obtained by virtue of working in the organisation" without the prior approval of the competent authority. A violation of the rules may result in withdrawal of pensionary benefits and only the head of the organisation can decide if the information is sensitive enough to be published, the plea filed by Advocate Asim Sarode and Ajinkya Udane states. According to the plea the notification pertains to "any publication", and "any material". "Expertise or knowledge gained by virtue of working in that organisation" is not to be used, even if it is supplemented by extensive reading, research and thinking by the retirees. "These restrictions are far too wide and give unrestricted discretion to the government, and this also causes a violation of right to freedom of speech and expression of the petitioner's and retired officers from more than 18 intelligence and security organisations established by the Central Government," the plea states while seeking quashing on the notification. The notification applies to 18 organisations including the Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing of the Cabinet Secretariat, Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, CBI, Enforcement Directorate, Narcotics Control Bureau, Aviation Research Centre, Special Frontier Force.. etc. Citing an opinion published in the scroll.in titled "India's armed forces are losing their political neutrality," the plea states that according to the petitioners"…the challenged notification is part of such attempts and to shut the mouths of retired Army personnel who wish to narrate the truth." The petition adds that the gag is likely to impact retired officials of security and intelligence organizations who write in the press or author books on their former organizations and experiences. The petitioners underscored that the Notification has put restrictions on the writings of retired officers, which is a direct threat to curtail fundamental right of speech and expression. Moreover, pension constitutes a fundamental right to livelihood under Article 21 and deprivation, even a part of such pension amount, is not allowed as per various judgements. Restricting the experienced retired personnel from writing anything based on their expertise or knowledge is definitely illegal, according to the petitioners. They state that the notification would restrict them from writing and posting anything related to their opinion about war, war crimes, purchase of weaponry etc. and posting their analytical views on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook will also be considered as crime. Advocate Asim Sarode said that retired officers from various forces, on the basis of their experience, shall be allowed to talk freely about security policies, corruption within forces, the politicization of decisions and human rights of serving officers. The petition is likely to be listed in the second week of June.

'A Virtual Gag Order': Army Veterans Move Bombay High Court Against Govt Sanction For Publication By Retired Personnel

Sharmeen Hakim

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