NEW DELHI: The Centre has refused to disclose details of a reported Manipur government proposal to delete the nomenclature “Any Kuki Tribes” from the state’s Scheduled Tribes (ST) list, citing concerns that sharing the information could aggravate inter-community tensions in the violence-hit state, PTI reported.The Central Information Commission (CIC), while hearing an RTI appeal, upheld the ministry of tribal affairs’ decision to withhold the information, saying the public interest in disclosing internal deliberations did not outweigh the potential risks to public order.The RTI application was filed by an applicant Micheal Haokip, who referred to a Manipur government letter that he claimed concerned a proposal to remove “Any Kuki Tribes” from the state’s ST list and replace “Any Mizo (Lushai) Tribe” with “Mizo”.Haokip had sought confirmation of whether the ministry received the proposal, along with its date of receipt and official file number. He also sought details of the action taken, whether it had been forwarded to the Registrar General of India (RGI) and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) for concurrence, and copies of relevant communications and file notings.In its reply dated June 24, 2025, the ministry said it was the nodal authority for processing claims relating to the inclusion, exclusion or modification of communities in the ST list under Article 342 of the Constitution.It said proposals recommended and justified by the concerned state government or Union Territory administration could be processed further, subject to concurrence from the RGI and NCST, before being considered for legislative amendment.The ministry argued that disclosing information during the examination and consultation process could exert “undue pressure and influence” on authorities and allow vested interests to interfere with independent decision-making.It also cited instances where disclosure of information relating to the notification of a community had allegedly led to violence.“Such disclosure of information will have the potential to disturb public peace, tranquillity and encourage enmity between the communities,” the CPIO said.During the CIC hearing, the ministry reiterated that the matter was sensitive given the ethnic violence and prevailing law-and-order concerns in Manipur. It apprehended that premature disclosure of internal proposals, communications and deliberative records could aggravate inter-community tensions, exert pressure on authorities and potentially disturb public order.Haokip argued that the ministry’s response was vague and failed to explain how basic administrative details, such as the date of receipt, file number and names of officials handling the matter, could be treated as information held in a fiduciary capacity.
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He also contended that the public-order concerns cited by the ministry were general and speculative.The CIC, however, said it was not persuaded that the public interest in disclosing substantive internal deliberations and communications outweighed the potential harm identified by the ministry.It also examined whether non-sensitive portions of the records could be disclosed after redaction under Section 10 of the RTI Act but rejected even the limited relief of providing redacted copies of the proposal and related action-taken notings.
