Panaji, Dec 29 (IANS) Virtually all government departments in Goa are desperately chasing a file pertaining to the founding of the Goa Law Commission (GLC).
In a written reply to a Right to Information application filed by lawyer activist Aires Rodrigues, law department under secretary N.P. Singnapurkar has said that ‘all efforts are (being) made to trace the file. The department has issued a circular Dec 10, 2010 to the heads of all departments asking them to see whether the file is in their office.’
The three-member GLC is headed by former union minister of state for law Ramakant Khalap as a political appointment. The commission was formed in 2009 to review existing state laws and recommend necessary changes.
Interestingly, no first information report has been filed in connection with the missing file.
‘I had asked for an inspection because the file (having) gone missing shows that there may be something fishy about the formation of the commission,’ Rodrigues said.
When contacted, Khalap expressed surprise at the missing file and said there was ‘no hanky panky’ involved.
‘The file should be like an open book. It should be made available for the public. There is nothing to hide in the file. It’s not on any contract or promotion. It’s only about formation of a law commission,’ Khalap said.
Missing files have made news in Goa before. Recently Chief Secretary C.S. Singh had to give an affidavit in a court regarding a file linked to a luxury residential project deal that was found missing — this despite the claim by the state government of having a high-tech computerised file management system.
