MPs of the opposition INDIA alliance, in a letter to Union Minister for Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, demanded the repeal of Section 44(3) of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, which amends the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.
The letter stated, “This amendment poses a serious risk of undermining people’s ability to access critical information under the RTI Act. Specifically, the amendment to Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, as introduced by Section 44(3) of the DPDP Act, seeks to exempt all personal information from disclosure.”
The letter noted that Section 8(1) of the RTI Act states:
“Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual, unless the Central Public Information Officer, State Public Information Officer, or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information. Provided that information which cannot be denied to Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person.”
However, Section 44(3) of the DPDP Act alters this provision by removing the exceptions within Section 8(1)(j) of 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.
They further observed that the amendment removes the crucial proviso of Section 8(1) that stated, “information which cannot be denied to Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person.”
“The amendments made through the DPDP Act drastically weaken the RTI Act and will have a detrimental impact on citizens’ fundamental right to information,” the letter emphasized.
The letter, signed by members of the Congress, DMK, Shiv Sena (UBT), Samajwadi Party, and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar), urged the repeal of Section 44(3) of the DPDP Act as they “believe that the legal framework for privacy and data protection should complement the RTI Act and in no way undermine or dilute it.”
“There are also some provisions in the DPDP Act which are antithetical to the concept of privacy and the freedom of expression and must be reviewed,” they added.
In a joint press conference held on Thursday, Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi, DMK’s A. M. Abdullah, Shiv Sena’s (Uddhav Thackeray faction) Priyanka Chaturvedi, Samajwadi Party’s Javed Ali, CPI(M)’s John Brittas, and RJD’s Naval Kishore said that their letter to the minister already includes 120 signatures and will be sent in the coming days.
Gogoi stated that the Bill was passed at a time when the entire nation was focused on the no-confidence motion addressing the situation in Manipur, and emphasized that it deserved thorough deliberation.
“The recent amendments have a draconian impact on the rights of citizens and freedom of the press,” said Gogoi.
“If you want to know to which contractor the tenders for the bridges that collapsed in Bihar were given by the officials, then through this Act, you will not be able to do so. Very surreptitiously, mischievously and maliciously, the right to information has been snatched,” he said.
Brittas said that the RTI Act was a “milestone in the trajectory of India to be a modern democracy – to bring transparency in administration and to empower the citizens and activists. With a single stroke, the Modi government has done away with the RTI. This will have far-reaching implications for the freedom of the press.”
He also remarked that, “I will urge my friends in the media to have a look at the JPC report of 2019. Many of the provisions that have been brought in are contrary to the JPC recommendations.”
“The government intended to bid goodbye to the RTI. Not just RTI, many of the UPA-era laws that transformed governance are being watered down today by the Modi government,” he added.
“The Modi government amended the RTI Act in 2019, this Act became weak then. Now through this Data Protection Act, the government is going to eliminate the remaining rights of the public also. This government loves hiding information, it does not want the public to get information,” said Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali Khan.
Highlighting the relevance of digital platforms, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said, “the way the government is preparing for siege, it will cause great harm to investigative journalism. I have no hesitation in saying that the country’s broadcast media has collapsed. It has now become spineless. The government is now engaged in completely destroying the RTI Act.”
She said the government has brought in many such provisions under which the public will no longer be able to get information. “This government will also crack down on press freedom and investigative journalism through this bill. Not only this, there is also a provision for fines, which can go up to crores of rupees. Moreover, the worst thing about this bill is that all the decisions of the data protection boards that will be formed across the country under it will be under the central government.
“In this bill, the Central Government will also have the power to decide who can share the information. In such a situation, our request to everyone is to raise their voice against this bill so that our demands are met and the rights of the public, investigative journalists and journalism remain protected,” she added.
 of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, which amends the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.){kind=link}