In a damage-control exercise, the Narendra Modi government has said that all “crucial” intelligence bureau records relating to the 2002 riots were intact and available and only some of “temporary” nature have been destroyed.
“The SIB records pertaining to communications that took place during the 2002 riots have been classified as of permanent nature and have not been destroyed and are available,” a home department official said.
“These records are preserved permanently... There are other records which are of temporary nature and are deemed to be destroyed in one year, five years, 10 years or 30 years time as per their classification,” he said.
Only some of the records or data which were of temporary nature or those classified to be destroyed after five or 10 years under the rules of the department have been destroyed, he said. In Delhi, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “This is a classic flip, then flop and again flip by Gujarat government which is doing somersault because it has much to hide. A very senior counsel on behalf of the state government said that records are destroyed in usual course.” Mr Singhvi said no one explained how records could be destroyed when more than five proceedings, including those in Supreme Court, are going on. Senior counsel S.B. Vakil had told reporters that telephone call records, officers’ movement registers and vehicle log books of the SIB were destroyed in 2007, as per government rules.