File picture of (from left) Robin Handique, Amarjit Gogoi and Bolin Das, three of the Ulfa leaders arrested in Bhutan and handed over to the Indian army

Guwahati, April 25: In a move that could antagonise the banned Ulfa at a crucial juncture of the peace process, the defence ministry today sought ?privilege? from Gauhati High Court to withhold the list of militant leaders handed over to India by Bhutan after Operation All Clear in December 2003.

Ulfa has been demanding information about the whereabouts of its ?missing? men, saying the progress of the peace process hinged on Delhi?s response to the issue.

The defence ministry pleaded for exemption from the high court?s directive to make public the list under Section 123 of the Evidence Act.

The ministry stated in its affidavit to the two-member division bench of Chief Justice B.S. Reddy and Justice B.P. Kotoky that the list was an ?unpublished government document relating to affairs of the state? and announcing it would be ?detrimental to public interest and state security?. Defence secretary Sekhar Dutt signed the affidavit.

The court had asked for the list of Ulfa activists to be published in response to a habeas corpus petition filed in January last year. The petitioner, Shyamalee Gogoi alias Jnanama Moran, had asked for information about the whereabouts of her husband Punaram Dihingia alias Prakash Gogoi, one of the Ulfa militants who supposedly went missing after Bhutan?s military offensive.

Another hearing is slated for tomorrow. The petitioner is expected to file a counter affidavit challenging the defence ministry?s contention that making the list of ?missing? Ulfa militants public would affect counter-insurgency measures.

Shyamalee had mentioned in her first petition that she, her husband and senior Ulfa leaders like Benning Rabha, Robin Neog and Ashanta Baghphukan had been taken captive by the Bhutanese army on December 18, 2003, and turned over to the Indian armed forces on December 24 that very year.

Ulfa has been maintaining that a quorum in its central committee is imperative for any decision to be taken on the peace process. Rabha, Neog and Baghphukan are all members of this panel.

The Ulfa-constituted People?s Consultative Group (PCG), which has so far held two rounds of preparatory talks with Delhi, reiterated the demand during the last round of talks.