Kochi, Oct 28: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday sought clarification from the State government on whether vigilance inquiries against officials are exempt from disclosure under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, LiveLaw reported. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. was hearing public interest litigations challenging the government's decision to bring the T1 and T2 sections of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) within an RTI exemption.

Source: LiveLaw

By a notification dated October 22, 2026, published in the Kerala Gazette, the State government added the VACB's T1 and T2 sections to the list of organisations exempted under Section 24(4) of the RTI Act, which permits state governments to exempt specified intelligence and security organisations, Bar and Bench reported. The petitioners pointed out that the VACB was not among the eight organisations originally notified as exempt under the government order dated February 7, 2006.

Source: Bar and Bench

The PILs — WP(PIL) No. 215 of 2026 by advocate P.K. Muralikrishnan, a former legal advisor to the VACB, and WP(PIL) No. 216 of 2026 by anti-corruption and RTI activist Joy Kaitharath — argue, as their contention, that the VACB is primarily a criminal investigation agency that detects and investigates offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and is not an intelligence or security organisation. They contend that the first proviso to Section 24(4) says information on allegations of corruption and human rights violations shall not be excluded from disclosure, and allege that information officers have begun rejecting requests on vigilance enquiries, preliminary verifications, closure reports and prosecution sanctions citing the notification. These are the petitioners' allegations; the court has expressed no view on them.

The petitioners relied on the Supreme Court's decision in Special Police Establishment v. Kamta Prasad Mishra, which held that a body investigating corruption offences involving public servants cannot be classified as an intelligence and security organisation under Section 24(4) and cannot be granted a blanket exemption, LiveLaw reported. It was also brought to the court's notice that a similar notification was rescinded by the State government in 2016 after it was challenged in the High Court. The petitioner argued, as quoted by LiveLaw: 'As far as the vigilance enquiries against officials are concerned the public have a right to know that under the Right to Information Act.'

The court directed the State to file an affidavit disclosing the details of the categories of information coming under the T1 and T2 sections, so it can decide whether information regarding vigilance enquiries against officials falls within them. The court granted no stay on the October 22 government order, Bar and Bench reported, and the PILs will be heard next on November 18, 2026.