Reports NEW DELHI, India – President Zail Singh issued a decree Thursday allowing the government to conceal the findings of official inquests for security reasons, the Press Trust of India reported.
The decree was issued as government appointed commissions we- re expected to release within a few weeks their reports on the Oct. 31, 1984, assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by two security men and ensuing anti-Sikh riots that left almost 10,000 Sikhs dead.
The ordinance amended a 34- year-old law that required official inquests to publish their reports within six months of completion, the agency said.
The decree allows the government to withhold findings of such inquests if it believes national security, foreign relations or the “public interest” might be harmed, the Press Trust said.
The agency quoted prominent’ opposition lawyers as saying the ordinance would prevent government findings in the Gandhi murder case from being released to atomics defending the three Sikhs who were convicted and sentenced to death for the assassination.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 23, 1986
