I've spent some time reading about this case and it's a lot more complex than I first thought.
Not that it matters, but I agree with Vellos. I wouldn't go so far as to call this particular instance "meta-gaming", because I think that term implies malicious intent which I don't believe is what motivated the Zuma GM. However, I do agree that the ruling of this case sets an important precedent.
If I may point out an alternative situation in which this issue would come up:
[The King asks the General "Give me a scout report of the region of Keplar."
The General, for some reason, does not want to give the King the true scout report and instead replies with a "My scouts have come back and report that Keplar is free of enemies"
The King, suspecting something, asks for a *scout report*.]
Now what? Is the general forced to oblige and risk the King uncovering his plot?
I think that the King is in this case is violating SMA and the spirit of IC/OOC separation. Why would the *scout report* be any better than the general's word? In medieval times it would be no problem at all for the General to send the king some forgery that looked identical to a "scout report" but was not actually accurate. In OOC terms however, it is impossible to send anything other than a 100% accurate scout report. This is where the problem lies.
Now, it would be one thing if 100% accurate * torture/ scout reports* served some sort of game-balancing purpose. If this was the case Vellos' criticisms would fall under the same category as people who ask for more recruiting locations, i.e. Sure it's more historically correct to recruit in places other than the capital, but for the sake of game balance that's how it must be.
However, unless I'm mistaken (totally possible), the fact that *torture reports* are 100% accurate (i.e. impossible to forge) is not a game- balancing issue, but simply a matter of keeping the game simple/ efficient/ easy to code.
In my opinion the heart of this issue is the separation of IC/OOC knowledge. The Zuma GM, though well intentioned, used the OOC knowledge that scout reports are 100% accurate as motivation for his IC actions (i.e. the request that an "official report" be provided)
I'm not sure how pertinent it is to the case, but I'm pretty sure that Vellos is not trying to hide anything from the Zuma, rather he is concerned at the potential for future abuse. I've seen the "official report", there's nothing there that we would want to keep from the Zuma... but if there were, this would totally ruin any chance at "thickening the plot".