High Court rejects petition against RAW officials as 'hearsay'

The Delhi High Court has rejected as "hearsay" a petition against 19 officers of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in which they have been accused of leaking classified information to the United States of America (USA).

The public interest litigation (PIL) was filed by a former RAW official, demanding legal action against the 19 officials named as accused.

"Your complete petition is nothing but hearsay," ruled a two-member bench headed by Chief Justice AP Shah.
"You have no authenticity and without any evidence you are asking us to initiate action against the officers."
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The court also said that the matter could have been pursued had the litigant enclosed any prima-facie evidence against the officers," the bench added.

Yadav had also mentioned former RAW official Rabinder Singh in his petition who was caught while spying for the US.

He fled the country to escape investigation and the matter remains an embarrassment for the organisation.
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Singh was declared a Proclaimed Offender (PO) after Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a complaint against him.

Giving a list of 19 senior RAW officers, Yadav in his petition accused five senior officers had helped Singh to flee from the country and rest had supplied classified information to him, who in turn had allegedly passed on the confidential documents to the United States.

Singh, a joint secretary-level officer who has been untraceable since 2004, was under surveillance of the counter-intelligence wing of RAW after he was caught on-camera in his office for allegedly photocopying top-secret documents and other operational details of the agency.

Singh and his wife have fled the country under fake names after with the help of visa issued by the US Embassy in Nepal on May 7, 2004.

The activities of the officer, who was sacked within a fortnight of his disappearance from the office on May 14, 2004, came under the scanner after his name was allegedly mentioned by a US official during a routine liaison with the RAW officers.