Doctored report furnished to RTI query
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 11 2025: In an incident that raises serious concern, the State Public Information Officer (SPIO) has been allegedly caught falsifying a report sought through an RTI application regarding the annual report of the Manipur Human Rights Commission (MHRC) .

This was revealed in a recent letter, Dr Laifungbam Debabrata Roy, president of the Elders' Council of the Centre for Organisation Research and Education (CORE), sent to the Chief Secretary.

India has been a State party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) since 1979, and it enacted The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (PHRA) - a legislative framework to protect and promote human rights.

Section 28 of the PHRA 1993 mandates a State Human Rights Commission to submit annual reports to the State Government, which shall in turn lay the reports along with an Action Taken Report (ATR) before the State Legislative Assembly.

This is where the State Public Information Officer (Law) was allegedly caught falsifying a report in its response to an RTI application.

While the SPIO initially claimed that the annual report of the MHRC for the year 2021-22 had been laid before the State Legislative, in a latter response, it backtracked and allegedly admitted that the report had not been laid as submitted earlier.

"...MHRC Annual Report for the year 2021-2022, although submitted by the MHRC, has not been laid before the Legislative Assembly.

In an RTI response, the SPIO (Law) initially claimed that this report was laid before the House.

However, in a subsequent letter to the undersigned, the same SPIO appeared to have admitted that the report was not laid, contradicting the earlier statement before the Manipur Information Commission", said the letter sent to the Chief Secretary.

Further, the letter highlighted that the annual report of the MHRC for the year 2020-21, while it was laid before the Legislative Assembly, the State failed to produce the Action Taken Report (ATR) along with it.

The laying of the MHRC annual report without the accompanying ATR is in violation of the provisions of the PHRA 1993.Failure to submit ATR undermines the MHRC's authority and also dilutes India's human rights commitment under international human rights law, weakens protection, and erodes public trust, the letter noted.

The laying of an incomplete report and falsely claiming to have laid a report misled the elected representatives and the people of the State.

These events amount to a serious misrepresentation before the Manipur Legislative Assembly, and it may constitute a breach of privilege of the House and its Members, said the letter.

Meanwhile, the Manipur Information Commission has already directed the SPIO (Law) to furnish the ATR on the MHRC's recommendations, however, compliance is still pending, it added.

It then urged the Chief Secretary to direct the Commissioner (Law) to re-lay the MHRC Annual Report for the year 2020-21 along with the ATR and explanatory memorandum, in accordance with Section 28(2) of the PHRA 1993 before the State Legislative Assembly.

The letter further urged the Chief Secretary to ensure formal laying of the MHRC annual report for the year 2021-2022 along with an ATR, and examine and fix responsibility for misrepresentation before the State Legislative Assembly.

It also asked the Chief Secretary to instruct the Law and Legislative Affairs Department to prevent any future procedural irregularities or misrepresentation before the Assembly.

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