The Madras High Court has stayed, until further orders, an order of a single Judge directing the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to provide the information sought by two applicants under the RTI Act.
In its order, a Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice H.L. Gokhale and Justice V. Dhanapalan, ordered notice returnable by March 19.
Earlier, the applicants had sought information about the number of police officers caught during DVAC raids with the list of names and details of departmental action and prosecution launched against them, details of the number of investigations completed and convictions in the five years from 2003-04 to 2007-2008. The DVAC had informed the applicants that the organisation had been exempted from the purview of RTI Act. Challenging the single Judge's order, the Superintendent of Police, Central Range, DVAC, Chennai, filed the appeal. The directorate said as per a G.O. of August 2008 the RTI Act would not apply to the Tamil Nadu State Vigilance Commissioner and the DVAC. The G.O. had been upheld by the High Court.
