Should retired officials be barred from disclosing information?

Last week, the Government of India prohibited retired officials of security and intelligence organisations from publishing anything about their work or organisation without prior clearance from the head of the organisation. Serving civil servants are barred from expressing their personal opinion on policy matters and criticising the government. But once they retire, many of them take part in public debates and enrich our conversations. Here we discuss whether there should be any restrictions on the freedom of expression of a specific category of retired government officials. And if yes, what the limits of such restrictions should be. Guests: Syed Akbaruddin, India’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and Dean, Kautilya School of Public Policy; G.K. Pillai, a former Home Secretary of India. Host: Varghese K. George Read the Parley article here. You can now find The Hindu’s podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at [email protected]