CHENNAI: Barely a few hours after its order exempting the Public (Law and Order) Department from the Right to Information (RTI) Act came to light, the Tamil Nadu government on Sunday revoked it following strong criticism from opposition parties and human rights activists.
The order, issued by the Human Resources Management Department under Section 24(4) of the RTI Act on September 21, had declared the Law and Order department an ‘Intelligence and Security Organisation’ and exempted it from the RTI Act.
The Public (Law and Order) Department deals with communal and caste clashes, the appointment of Commissions of Inquiry into law-and-order issues and follow-up action on their recommendations.
It also examines inquiry reports into police firing and deals with deaths in police custody, custodial torture and deaths of remand prisoners, besides handling agitations by students, agricultural labourers and political parties, and requests to withdraw cases registered over political, communal, caste or student agitations.
The state government had initially defended the order, with School Education, Information and Publicity Minister Rajmohan telling reporters that information was being twisted by one party to its benefit in the name of freedom of speech.
Law Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar also sought to downplay the scope of the exemption, saying it covered only a few of the department’s roughly 20 sections — particularly those relating to caste-related issues and national security — and not the department as a whole. He added that the matter would be taken up with Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay in light of the public reaction.
Activists Jayaram Venkatesan of Arappor Iyakkam and Henry Tiphagne of People’s Watch had opposed the blanket nature of the exemption. While Tiphagne had called for the order to be withdrawn, Venkatesan said some functions of the department could reasonably be considered sensitive, but exempting the entire department was excessive. Members of the Congress and CPM also criticised the move.
In a statement on X, TNCC president Manickam Tagore said the RTI Act, brought by the UPA government in 2005, was a landmark legislation to ensure transparent governance and urged the government to reconsider the order. VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan said the notification was “shocking” and could pave the way for human rights violations.
Attempt to turn TN into police state, says CPM
CPM MP Su Venkatesan termed the move “a blatant attempt” to turn TN into a “police state”. DMK MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian said exempting law and order matters would undermine transparency and accountability and weaken the people’s right to question the government.
AIADMK former minister D Jayakumar termed the move as the “height of authoritarianism and dictatorship”. Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram said that the TVK government must not let bureaucrats set the tone, tenor and direction of the administration.
It may be noted that Section 24(4) of the RTI Act allows a state government to exempt an intelligence or security organisation established by it from the Act through a notification in the Official Gazette. However, the exemption does not cover information relating to allegations of corruption or human rights violations. The government had invoked this provision in its order.
CPM, VCK fault govt
CPM MP Su Venkatesan termed the move a blatant attempt to turn Tamil Nadu into a police state and demanded that it be withdrawn. VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan said that the move could pave way for human rights violations
