Provision of DPDP Act weakens RTI: Opposition Members of Parliament

It won't restrict disclosure of personal information under RTI: Vaishnaw

Over 120 Opposition INDIA bloc Members of Parliament (MPs) have petitioned the Centre to repeal Section 44 (3) of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 as it “poses a serious risk of undermining people’s ability to access critical information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act”.

 

On Thursday, the Opposition MPs made public the petition that they have sent to Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw. The MPs have argued that Section 44 (3) of the DPDP Act amends Section 8(1) (j) of the RTI Act, 2005 as it seeks to exempt all personal information from disclosure.

 

 

The MPs said the amendment would hurt scrutiny of the government that the RTI Act empowered citizens, activists, and journalists to undertake, especially in highlighting corruption.

 

However, in a post on X, Vaishnaw clarified that personal details subject to public disclosure under various laws will continue to be disclosed under the RTI Act after the implementation of the new data protection rule.

 

Vaishnaw’s clarification was in response to a post on X on Thursday by Congress’ Communications Chief Jairam Ramesh, where he shared a letter that he had sent to the Union minister on March 23. In the letter, Ramesh urged the minister “to pause, review and repeal” Section 44 (3) of the DPDP Act.

 

“Any personal information that is subject to disclosure under legal obligations under various laws governing our public representatives and welfare programmes, etc., will continue to be disclosed under the RTI Act. In fact, this (DPDP) amendment will not restrict disclosure of personal information, rather it aims to strengthen the privacy rights of the individuals and prevent the potential misuse of the law," Vaishnaw said.

 

The minister cited Section 3 of the DPDP Act to explain the government's stance. According to the said Section, “the provisions of the Act will not apply on personal data processed by an individual for any personal or domestic purpose, and personal data that is made publicly available by the individual himself or any other person who is under an obligation under any law for the time being in force in India to make such personal data publicly available”.

 

In their petition, the INDIA bloc MPs contended that Section 44 (3) of the DPDP Act seeks to substitute clause 8 (1) (j) in the RTI Act 2005 to deny personal information under the RTI Act. “Previously, personal information could be withheld only if it was not related to public activity or interest, or if its disclosure would cause an unwarranted invasion of privacy,” the petition stated. The petition has been signed by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, Nationalist Congress Party (SCP)’s Supriya Sule, Trinamool Congress’ Kalyan Banerjee, and others.

 

The MPs said the government moved certain amendments when the DPDP Act was being passed in the Lok Sabha, which turned around the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that had examined the Bill. Addressing the media in the national capital on Thursday, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said the DPDP Bill was passed in Parliament in 2023 when the entire country was witnessing a no-confidence motion brought in the context of Manipur, and the Bill wasn’t discussed threadbare as should have been the case.

 

The DPDP Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 7, 2023, and by the Rajya Sabha two days later on August 9. It received presidential assent on August 11. 

The Charges

- Section 44(3) amended the RTI Act, exempting all personal information from disclosure

- The Opposition argues the amendment hinders government scrutiny, impacting anti-corruption efforts

- The MPs say the government moved certain amendments when the DPDP Act was being passed in the Lok Sabha

- INDIA bloc MPs claims the amendment contradict Joint Parliamentary Committee recommendations