Tamil Nadu revokes RTI exemption for law-and-order department after criticism
Tamil Nadu’s government withdrew an order that had classified its Public (Law and Order) Department as an intelligence and security organisation exempt from the Right to Information Act. The reversal followed criticism from opposition parties and a Communist Party of India (Marxist) ally, who said the move would limit public scrutiny.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay’s government has withdrawn an order exempting the Public (Law and Order) Department from India’s Right to Information Act after the measure drew criticism from opposition parties and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), an ally of the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. The Human Resources Management Department issued a fresh order on Sunday saying the exemption issued on September 21 “stood revoked”. The earlier order had classified the Public (Law and Order) Department as an intelligence and security organisation under Section 24(4) of the RTI Act.
The department deals with matters including communal and caste clashes, political agitations, preventive detention, custodial deaths and allegations of police torture. Section 24 allows specified intelligence and security organisations to be exempted from the RTI law, subject to limited exceptions involving corruption and human-rights violations. The proposed exemption prompted criticism from the CPI(M) and the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
CPI(M) MP S Venkatesan said it could shield law-and-order matters from public scrutiny and called for the order to be withdrawn. DMK spokesperson Saravanan alleged that the measure was intended to prevent scrutiny of crime figures. He referred to a claim by opposition leader Udhayanidhi Stalin that 500 murders had occurred since the TVK assumed office, but the supplied material does not independently establish that figure.
Education Minister Raj Mohan said he would study the amendment and assured that there would be no obstacle to freedom of expression. He also said the limits of that freedom had to be considered and warned against deliberately manipulating data for a party’s interests. The Sunday notification means the September 21 order has been withdrawn and the Public (Law and Order) Department is no longer covered by that exemption.
The supplied material does not say whether any RTI applications were affected during the period the order was in force.
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