Tamil Nadu exempts Public Law and Order Department from RTI law

The Tamil Nadu government has exempted the Public (Law and Order) Department from the ambit of the Right to Information Act, 2005. The Human Resources Management Department issued a Government Order and notified it in the Government Gazette. The order was made under Section 24(4) of the RTI Act, which allows exemptions for specified intelligence and security organisations.

The government described the Public (Law and Order) Department as an intelligence and security organisation. The department handles matters including communal and caste clashes, law-and-order commissions of inquiry and follow-up action on their recommendations. Its responsibilities also cover detentions under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act and the National Security Act.

These include representations by detainees and habeas corpus petitions filed in the High Court and Supreme Court. The department conducts monthly and special law-and-order review meetings in accordance with instructions from the Chief Secretary. It also examines inquiries into police firing, deaths in custody and police torture, as well as deaths of remand prisoners.

Other duties listed in the order include handling National Human Rights Commission references, preparing reports on law-and-order and communal incidents, and replying to parliamentary questions. The department also deals with agitations involving students, agricultural labourers and political parties; requests to withdraw cases; and sanctions for prosecution relating to defamatory articles, news reports and speeches.