Transparency Blow: Kerala Government Pulls Two Key Vigilance Wings Out of RTI
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In a move that has reignited fierce debates over administrative transparency and anti-corruption oversight in the southern state, the Kerala government has formally stripped two vital, highly confidential units of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) of their Right to Information (RTI) obligations. Issued via an official gazette notification on October 22, 2026, the executive order bars public disclosure requests targeting the T1 and T2 departments of the anti-graft agency. The decision marks an abrupt reversal from a 2022 policy shift that had temporarily subjected these sensitive wings to transparency inquiries, triggering an immediate and aggressive political offensive from opposition ranks who accuse the Left administration of orchestrating an institutional cover-up.
Invoking Section 24(4): Inside the Secret Files of Vigilance Wings T1 and T2
The state administration anchored its controversial exemption inside overarching statutory powers reserved for state security:
Statutory Grounds for Exemption: The state government invoked Section 24(4) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, which explicitly authorizes provincial administrations to exclude intelligence, security, and specialized enforcement organizations from public access via a gazette notification.
T1 Branch Mandate: The T1 wing functions as the institutional custodian of Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) belonging to administrative, executive, and legal officers serving inside the Vigilance Department, while also housing sensitive personnel dossiers, internal security assessments, and high-level vigilance deployment records.
T2 Branch Repository: Operating as the operational intelligence nerve centre, the T2 wing preserves the confidential weekly activity diaries submitted by active vigilance field investigators alongside highly sensitive raw inputs, informant data, and early surveillance summaries from field assets.
Political Backlash: BJP Alleges Cover-Up for Political Leaders and Bureaucrats
The administrative clawback has triggered sharp political hostility, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launching a direct assault on the state cabinet's motives:
Allegations of Shielding High-Profile Probes: The BJP state unit alleged that exempting T1 and T2 is an intentional maneuver to insulate powerful individuals from civic scrutiny, noting that the departments retain primary intelligence files touching upon complaints involving the Chief Minister, state cabinet ministers, senior political operatives, and top-tier civil servants.
Erosion of Whistleblower Protection: Opposition figures claimed that eliminating RTI scrutiny from investigators' weekly notes weakens the accountability of anti-graft inquiries, making it significantly easier to dilute, stall, or discreetly close corruption probes away from public attention.
Demand for Revocation: Calling the notification a severe blow to open governance, political watchdogs and opposition leaders have demanded the immediate rollback of the gazette order, urging judicial review over the selective use of security exemption clauses for vigilance records.
A Shifting Legal Battleground: The 20-Year Timeline of VACB RTI Exemptions
The oscillating status of these anti-corruption departments reflects a complex two-decade administrative and legal tug-of-war:
Initial Exclusions in 2006: In 2006, the Kerala government first removed eight state intelligence and security entities—including the T1 and T2 divisions—from the ambit of the RTI Act under similar statutory provisions citing operational discretion.
The 2022 Transparency Opening: After sustained legal interventions and advocacy by civic activists arguing that administrative wings cannot claim blanket operational immunity, the departments were reintroduced into the purview of the RTI Act in 2022 to improve institutional transparency.
Reimposing Blanket Secrecy in 2026: With the October 22 gazette directive now in place, the state has restored absolute confidentiality over these desks, creating an institutional wall that observers expect to be challenged before the High Court of Kerala in the coming weeks.
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