This Article is From Apr 14, 2014

Narendra Modi to be asked about releasing letters with Atal Bihari Vajpayee: report

Narendra Modi to be asked about releasing letters with Atal Bihari Vajpayee: report

FILE photo: Atal Bihari Vajpayee (R) speaks to reporters at the Akshardham temple complex in Gandhinagar as Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi (L) looks on

New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Office is reportedly planning to ask Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, if letters between him and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, written in the days after the 2002 riots in Gujarat, can be made public, as requested by a Right to Information application.

Mr Modi was serving his first term as Chief Minister of the state when communal violence ripped through Gujarat, leaving more than 1,000 people dead, most of them Muslims. Mr Vajpayee was Prime Minister.

In December, a member of the Prime Minister's Office had ruled that their correspondence could not be released, citing a section of the Right to Information Act that exempts information that can impede an investigation. (Read more...)

That decision was overturned by a senior official during an appeal, who says that the Gujarat government's consent will now be sought.

Access to the letters was sought over six months ago under the Right to Information Act.
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