Vijay govt withdraws Law and Order RTI exemption after backlash: What did it mean?

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday revoked its decision to exempt the Public (Law and Order) Department from the Right to Information Act, 2005, hours after the move drew criticism from political allies, opposition leaders and transparency activists.

The Human Resources Management (R) Department issued a fresh order revoking GO Ms No. 57, dated September 21, which had brought the Public (Law and Order) Department under the exemption provided by Section 24(4) of the RTI Act.

The government’s withdrawal order said the September 21 notification “stands revoked”, effectively bringing the department back within the RTI framework.

What did the original RTI order say?

The September 21 order classified the Public (Law and Order) Department as an “Intelligence and Security Organisation” established by the Tamil Nadu government, making it exempt from the RTI Act under Section 24(4).

The notification had triggered questions because the department deals with a wide range of matters beyond intelligence and security, including police conduct, custodial deaths, allegations of torture, communal and caste clashes, political protests and preventive detention.

Its responsibilities also include examining police-firing and custodial-death inquiry reports, handling references from the National Human Rights Commission and dealing with requests related to cases registered during political agitations and communal or caste conflicts.
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Why did the government issue the exemption?

TVK Minister C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar had said the exemption was primarily intended to keep information relating to community clashes outside the RTI framework.

He said the Law and Order Department has around 20 sections but only a few were intended to be exempted. He had also said the government could take the matter up with Chief Minister Vijay if the public expressed concern.

Another TVK Minister, Raj Mohan, said the move would not affect freedom of expression and maintained that the government would continue to provide necessary information to the media.

Opposition and allies object

The original notification faced criticism from several political quarters, including parties supporting the government.

VCK (Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi) president and MP Thol Thirumavalavan called the move “highly shocking” and said it could affect human rights, while CPM MP Su Venkatesan demanded its withdrawal and criticised the exemption. Congress MP Karti Chidambaram also said the move would set a poor precedent and argued that the RTI framework should be strengthened rather than restricted.

Transparency group Arappor Iyakkam also criticised the notification, questioning the classification of all information held by the Law and Order wing as intelligence-related.

Under Section 24 of the RTI Act, notified intelligence and security organisations are generally exempt, although the law retains exceptions relating to allegations of corruption and human-rights violations.
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Government rolls back decision

With the latest order, the Tamil Nadu government has cancelled the September 21 notification and withdrawn the proposed RTI exemption for the Public (Law and Order) Department.

The rollback came after the exemption became public and faced criticism from members of the government’s wider political support base as well as activists and opposition leaders.