Amid backlash, Tamil Nadu govt revokes RTI exemption

Tamil Nadu's government has retracted its Sept 21 general order regarding RTI Act exemptions for law and order.

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu govt withdrew on Sunday a controversial Sept 21 general order exempting the state’s law and order machinery from the purview of RTI Act after political and public backlash.The order would have blocked access to records of custodial deaths, police firing, communal clashes and security-related detentions.“Under Section 24, subsection (4) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, the exemption granted to the public (law and order) department of the govt of Tamil Nadu has been withdrawn with respect to the govt order issued by the human resources management department,” electricity and law minister CTR Nirmal Kumar posted on X.The post came about an hour after the minister’s statement, explaining the rationale behind the RTI shield, failed to quell the outcry, including from TVK’s allies.The now-retracted order had sought to classify the law and order wing as an intelligence and security organisation, putting it beyond the ambit of transparency rules governing public disclosure of information.Nirmal Kumar had earlier argued that only a few sections such as inquiries into related to caste-based incidents would be outside RTI Act’s ambit.

He claimed responses to such queries often caused further confusion in society.

Kanimozhi said it was 'shameful'

Earlier in the day, the gazette publication of the GO 57 dated Sept 21 went viral, with negative criticism pouring in from all quarters.The GO specified the public (law and order) department as an intelligence and security organisation established by the state govt to which RTI Act shall not apply under Sec 24 of the Act.The wing deals with communal and caste clashes, agitations involving political parties, students and agricultural labourers, and requests for withdrawal of cases registered on political grounds.Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said govt’s decision set a “bad precedent” and that RTI Act’s scope must be expanded, not restricted. Had the order stood, he argued, it would have sealed off records on alleged transgressions during law enforcement.VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan termed the notification “highly shocking”, saying it amounted to “paving the way for suppression of human rights”. Congress and VCK are alliance partners of TVK govt.DMK MP Kanimozhi said it was “shameful” for a govt that came to office by promising transparency to try to stop the public from asking questions just four months into its tenure, citing over 500 alleged murders in the state.AMMK founder TTV Dhinakaran, addressing chief minister C Joseph Vijay directly, had been at the forefront of opposition to the rule tweak, saying any such exemption would be seen as a “cover-up”.AIADMK’s D Jayakumar likened the administration to the “Idi Amin govt” for trying to allegedly blunt the RTI Act.(With inputs from PTI)