Chennai, Sep 27 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Tamil Nadu government has issued an order exempting the law and order wing of its Public Department from the Right to Information (RTI) Act, restricting public access to a broad range of records concerning policing, protests and security.
The government has designated the wing as an organisation engaged in intelligence and security work.
The order means applicants may no longer obtain many of the records held by the wing through routine RTI requests.
It does not, however, make every piece of law and order information held elsewhere in the government unavailable. The affected records include papers on the appointment of commissions of inquiry into law and order incidents, communal and caste clashes, police arrests and custody, deaths of prisoners, and the receipt of police investigation reports.
Records of monthly law and order review meetings held on the Chief Secretary’s instructions, as well as special meetings convened to address particular situations, are also covered. Such meetings can bring together officials to assess unrest, review policing arrangements and decide what action the administration should take.
The order extends to material prepared for answers to law and order questions in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
It also covers records concerning demonstrations by students, farmers and political party workers, along with allegedly defamatory articles, news clippings and speeches that come under the wing’s scrutiny.
The government’s stated position is that all information relating to law and order cannot be made public. Its decision gives the wing a wider basis for refusing requests for records that it handles, including material on incidents that have attracted public attention.
The exemption has limits under the RTI Act. Section 24(4) permits a state government to exempt an intelligence or security organisation by notification, but information concerning allegations of corruption or human rights violations is not excluded.
Requests involving alleged human rights violations require the approval of the State Information Commission and must be answered within the period specified by the Act. The notification must also be laid before the state legislature.
The practical effect will depend on how the department applies the order to individual requests. Applicants seeking information about custodial deaths or police conduct, for example, may still invoke the Act’s provisions concerning alleged human rights violations. The scope of the notification could therefore become a point of dispute when such requests are decided.
Source: IANS
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz