TN Govt Withdraws Controversial Order Exempting Law and Order Dept From RTI

The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday revoked an order exempting the Public (Law and Order) Department from the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, following strong criticism from political allies and transparency advocates.

The government withdrew the order issued by the Human Resources Management (R) Department on September 21. The now-retracted Government Order (GO) had invoked Section 24(4) of the RTI Act, classifying the Public (Law and Order) Department as an “Intelligence and Security Organisation” and thereby seeking to keep it outside the scope of the transparency law.

The decision had triggered a political controversy, with ruling alliance partners Congress and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) questioning the move.

VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan had described the gazette notification as “highly shocking” and warned that it could pave the way for suppression of human rights. He had demanded that the order be withdrawn immediately.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram had also criticised the government’s decision, saying it would set a “bad precedent”. He argued that the scope of the RTI Act should be expanded rather than restricted.

Chidambaram had further said that had the exemption remained in force, it could have prevented access to information relating to police torture, custodial deaths, police firing, communal clashes and security-related detentions.

Following the government’s decision to withdraw the GO, the Sivaganga Lok Sabha member welcomed the reversal.

Earlier on Sunday, School Education Minister A Rajmohan had defended the government’s initial move, saying it would not affect freedom of expression but asserting that a “Lakshman Rekha” should be maintained.

The government’s withdrawal of the order comes after the move faced mounting political and public scrutiny, restoring the department to the existing RTI framework.