Vijay government withdraws RTI exemption for Tamil Nadu law and order department

The Tamil Nadu government led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Sunday withdrew its decision to keep the Public (Law and Order) Department outside the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, following strong objections from allies of the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and criticism from the opposition DMK.

The reversal came shortly after the order triggered a political controversy. Congress and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), both part of the TVK-led Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance (SSJVA), had opposed the move and called for it to be withdrawn.

The government formally revoked the order issued by the Human Resources Management (R) Department on September 21.

What the withdrawn order sought to exempt

The original order invoked Section 24(4) of the RTI Act to classify the Public (Law and Order) Department as an "Intelligence and Security Organisation". That classification would have taken the department outside the normal RTI framework and restricted public access to information held by it.

The department handles a wide range of law and order matters, including communal and caste clashes, police firing inquiries, deaths in police custody, police torture and deaths of remand prisoners. It also deals with agitations by students, agricultural labourers and political parties, as well as cases relating to political, communal and caste clashes.

The exemption would therefore have affected access through RTI applications to information concerning communal incidents, political protests, deaths in police custody and other law and order-related matters.

Earlier on Sunday, school education minister A Rajmohan had defended the original decision. He said freedom of expression would not be affected but added that its "lakshman rekha" needed to be respected.

Allies objected as DMK stepped up attack

The proposed exemption faced opposition from Congress and VCK leaders within the ruling alliance.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram criticised the decision, calling it a "bad precedent". He argued that the scope of the RTI Act should be expanded rather than restricted.

Chidambaram said that had the order remained in force, RTI access would have been denied for records concerning investigations into police torture, custodial deaths, police firing, communal clashes and security-related detentions. The Sivaganga Lok Sabha MP later welcomed the government's decision to withdraw the order.

VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan described the gazette notification as "highly shocking" and warned that it would "pave the way for suppressing human rights". He called for the order to be withdrawn immediately.

The Public (Law and Order) Department's responsibilities also include matters concerning NSA and COFEPOSA detentions, National Human Rights Commission references, monthly law and order reports, replies to parliamentary questions and requests for withdrawal of cases registered over political, communal, caste, student and other agitations.

The issue also drew a sharp response from the DMK. MP Kanimozhi described the move as an "attempt to cover up its own failures".

In a post on X, she wrote, "Despite more than five hundred murders, a government incapable of restoring law and order is now attempting to restrict RTI rights so that people cannot even seek information about law and order, apparently to cover up its own failures. This is shameful. Is this the change they promised?"

The withdrawal means that the Public (Law and Order) Department will no longer be covered by the specific exemption introduced through the September 21 order. Reports from Tamil Nadu on Sunday confirmed that the government rescinded the exemption after the political backlash.