The Tamil Nadu government has formally exempted its Public (Law and Order) Department from the Right to Information Act, invoking a provision reserved for intelligence and security bodies. A government order issued on September 21 declared the department an “Intelligence and Security Organisation” under Section 24(4) of the RTI Act, a clause that lets the state shield designated security agencies from routine transparency requests. The order was issued in the name of the Governor of Tamil Nadu, giving it the standing of a formal notification rather than a routine administrative circular. The Law and Order wing handles some of the most politically sensitive files in the state government, including communal and caste clashes, agitations against the administration, and preventive-detention cases lodged under laws such as COFEPOSA and the National Security Act.
It also oversees habeas corpus litigation, custodial-death inquiries referred to it, correspondence with the National Human Rights Commission, and proposals to prosecute allegedly defamatory speeches and publications. By placing this wing beyond the reach of RTI applicants, the state effectively removes a wide swath of policing and detention-related decision-making from public scrutiny. State governments across India have increasingly used Section 24 exemptions to wall off police and intelligence functions from RTI queries, arguing that operational secrecy is essential to security work. Section 24 itself carries a proviso requiring disclosure of information relating to allegations of corruption and human rights violations, meaning transparency advocates may argue the blanket shield is not absolute in practice.
Because the department also processes preventive-detention and custodial-death matters, activists are likely to say the exemption could make it harder for families of detainees to learn the grounds for their custody. The move comes as Tamil Nadu’s law-and-order apparatus has already faced scrutiny over cases such as last year’s Karur stampede and communal-tension prosecutions. The notification affects only the Law and Order wing named in the order, not the wider Public Department. No opposition party or civil society group had issued a public reaction to the notification at the time this report was compiled.