Government should disclose reasons behind the refusal of visa to American historian Peter Heehs, author of the controversial 'The Lives of Sri Aurobindo', and its subsequent extension after controversy erupted, the Central Information Commission has ruled.
The author of the controversial book was living in country for nearly 40 years during which he had been working on the digitisation and archiving the works of spiritual guru Sri Aurobindo in Puducherry.
After the book sparked angry reactions from the followers of Sri Aurobindo, Heehs was told by Union Home Ministry about the decision that his visa would not be extended and he needs to leave the country by the middle of April, 2012.
The decision was later reviewed after several eminent personalities wrote to the Government against the decision to not extend the visa.
Following the episode, the appellant, Amit Bhargava sought to know from the Home Ministry the grounds of denial, review and the extension given to Heehs.
The Ministry said it had provided only selective information on the episode severing the un-disclosable portions under the provisions of Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act which prohibits information pertaining to security of the country and other similar issues.
Bhargava stated, "In the present case, public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests and therefore the CPIO be directed not to severe any information."
Agreeing with Bhargava, Information Commissioner Sushma Singh directed the Home Ministry to provide complete information along with file notings related to the episode.
But she refused to pass a similar order for his request seeking information from Intelligence Bureau on the issue as it is an exempted organisation.
