Chennai, Sept 28: The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday withdrew an order that had brought the state’s Public (Law and Order) Department outside the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, following criticism from political allies and transparency advocates.
The Human Resources Management (R) Department formally revoked its September 21 Government Order (GO), which had invoked Section 24(4) of the RTI Act to designate the Public Department as an “Intelligence and Security Organisation”.
The original notification had triggered strong reactions from alliance partners of the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam-led administration. Congress and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leaders questioned the decision and called for its withdrawal.
VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan described the gazette notification as “highly shocking” and said the move could undermine efforts to address human rights concerns. He had urged the government to revoke the order immediately.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram had also criticised the decision, saying restricting access under the transparency law would establish a “bad precedent”. He argued that the RTI framework should be strengthened rather than narrowed.
Chidambaram had pointed out that the exemption could have prevented citizens from obtaining information related to allegations of police torture, custodial deaths, police firing, communal violence and security-related detentions. After the withdrawal, he welcomed the government’s decision.
Earlier, School Education Minister A Rajmohan had defended the initial move, saying it would not affect freedom of expression but stressing that certain limits, or a “Lakshman Rekha”, needed to be observed.
The government’s decision to withdraw the notification brings the Public (Law and Order) Department back within the RTI framework.