HC stays earlier order to make SCK Report's 8th chapter public

A Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday stayed an earlier order passed by Justice L Narasimha Reddy to the Centre to make public the eighth chapter of the Justice BN Srikrishna Committee’s Report.

Acting on an appeal by the Centre, the two-member Division Bench, comprising of Justices Nisar Ahmed Kakru and Afzal Vilaspurkar, stayed Justice L Narasimha Reddy’s March 23, 2011 ruling.

However, the two-member Division Bench directed the Centre to submit the controversial eighth chapter in a sealed cover within two days to the High Court.

Earlier, Justice L Narasimha Reddy had said that ordered the Centre to make public the eight chapter of the Justice BN Srikrishna Committee, also referred to as the ‘secret note’ and had described the Report as ‘mind-boggling’. He had also said that a report prepared by the “front office of an MP would be more sensible that this mind-boggling Report.”

Justice Narasimha Reddy had stated that the Report over-projected non-existent things and expressed that, “It was unfortunate that a retired Supreme Court Judge was associated with a report of this kind.”

Earlier, the Centre had argued through Additional solicitor-general Vivek Tanka that the eighth chapter should not be made public. The Centre has defended its decision not to make the eighth chapter public saying that this was a privileged document under Sections 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act 1872.

The eighth chapter deals with administrative and other measures that the government would have to adopt and it has been authored based on reports and assessment made on the ground by the Srikrishna Committee members.

The Additional solicitor-general had further assured the Court that the ‘secret note’ does not contain information which would be relevant to the general public in forming an opinion over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.