{"id":81093,"date":"2026-08-08T20:35:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=81093"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:36:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:06:20","slug":"rti-act-dpdp-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/08-08-2026\/rti-act-dpdp-act","title":{"rendered":"SC Seeks Govt&#8217;s Reply on Pleas Against RTI Changes through DPDP Act"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court granted the Centre two weeks to respond to petitions <strong>challenging amendments to the Right to Information (RTI) Act made through the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Background: Section 44(3) of DPDP Act had amended the RTI Act<\/strong> to facilitate <strong>public authorities to refuse information<\/strong> on the ground that the <strong>details sought was of a \u201cpersonal\u201d nature.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act<\/strong> deals with exemption from disclosure of personal information.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>earlier provision exempted only limited categories<\/strong> of personal information and incorporated a public interest test.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The amended provision broadly <strong>exempts all personal information from disclosure, <\/strong>thereby restricting access to information protected under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Question Before SC: <\/strong>The court said <strong>both the DPDP Act and the RTI Act were central legislations.<\/strong> There was a <strong>need to actually harmonise them.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The court would examine if this <strong>restrictive or \u201ccautionary approach\u201d to sharing data under the DPDP Act worked to repeal earlier transparency legislations.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Background: <\/strong>In 2017, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) established the<strong> Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee<\/strong> to develop a data protection framework for India.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Scope:<\/strong> It applies to the processing of digital personal data within India where such data is collected online, or collected offline and is digitised.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It also applies to such processing outside India, if it is for offering goods or services in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Consent:<\/strong> Personal data may be processed only for a lawful purpose upon consent of an individual.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Consent may not be required for specified legitimate uses such as voluntary sharing of data by the individual or processing by the State for permits, licenses, benefits, and services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Obligations for Data fiduciaries:<\/strong> To maintain the accuracy of data, keep data secure, and delete data once its purpose has been met.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rights to Individuals:<\/strong> The right to obtain information, seek correction and erasure, and grievance redressal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Exemptions:<\/strong> Government agencies can be exempted in the interest of specified grounds such as security of the state, public order, and prevention of offences.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Data Protection Board: <\/strong>To adjudicate on non-compliance with the provisions of the Act. The Data Protection Board (DPB) has <strong>civil court powers for personal data breach complaints.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Board members will be appointed for two years and will be eligible for re-appointment.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The central government will prescribe details such as the number of members of the Board and the selection process.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Aim: <\/strong>It was designed to promote transparency in the functioning of the government by giving citizens the right to access information from public authorities.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Scope:<\/strong> The Act applies to public authorities, which include government departments, ministries, and organizations that are substantially funded by the government.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Information Accessible to the Public:<\/strong> Citizens have the right to request information from public authorities. This includes the right to access records, documents, and other information.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Exclusions:<\/strong> Information that may compromise national security, breach confidentiality, or harm the integrity of ongoing investigations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Timeframe for Response: <\/strong>Public authorities are required to respond to information requests within 30 days. In certain cases, this period can be extended to 45 days.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Penalties: <\/strong>The Act provides for penalties against officials who withhold information without reasonable cause or provide false information.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Significance of the Act<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Empowers Citizens: <\/strong>By accessing information from public authorities, promoting transparency and accountability in government.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Holds Government Accountable: <\/strong>Helps in holding public authorities accountable for their actions, preventing corruption.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>RTI helped uncover misuse of funds in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Promotes Good Governance:<\/strong> It strengthens democratic processes by ensuring that the government operates transparently, fostering public trust.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Enables Social Audits:<\/strong> Activists and NGOs use RTI to perform social audits of government schemes and services.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>RTI was used to check if food rations were correctly distributed under the Public Distribution System (PDS).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Access to Public Records: <\/strong>RTI requests have been used to obtain details of government contracts, exposing corruption or inefficiencies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthens Democracy: <\/strong>Provides a tool for citizens to actively participate in the decision-making process, enhancing democracy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The RTI Act has played a <strong>significant role in promoting transparency, reducing corruption, and empowering citizens<\/strong> to actively participate in the democratic process by holding government institutions accountable.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is a powerful tool for promoting good governance and ensuring that citizens have access to information that affects their lives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/sc-to-examine-impact-of-dpdp-law-on-rti-investigative-journalism\/article71317413.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The Supreme Court granted the Centre two weeks to respond to petitions challenging amendments to the Right to Information (RTI) Act made through the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> About <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Background: Section 44(3) of DPDP Act had amended the RTI Act to facilitate public authorities to refuse information on the ground that the details sought was of a \u201cpersonal\u201d nature. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act deals with exemption from disclosure of personal information.\u00a0 <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/08-08-2026\/rti-act-dpdp-act \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81093"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81095,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81093\/revisions\/81095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}