THE FADING COLOURS OF WATCHDOGS

THE Digital Personal Data Protection Act, notified on August 11, 2023, has been a long-awaited legal shield for the people of India in these difficult times of the rapidly increasing misuse of personal information. It is a neatly drafted legislation, mainly following a principle-based approach hence durable) backed by several illustrations, with only 44 Sections and one Schedule—it is altogether acrisp 21-page document.

- C K G NAIR,MS SAHOO

Several expert commentaries, fine-combing some Sections and provisions of the law, are already available in the public domain. One major limitation of the law, according to most critics, is the amendment to the RTI Act, 2005, removing the obligation to disclose personal information. According to them, this amendment dilutes the RTI Act, an important tool in the hands of the citizens to make governance of public authorities transparent and accountable. A big battle won by people in 2005 is lost!

The RTI Act has travelled a distance of 18 years. Though still a teenager, it has had an initial active phase, which, by many yardsticks, has not been that pleasant for many stakeholders. There have been reports of some using the tool for unintended purposes and some others getting harassed for using it. Several issues, including primacy of the security of personal information, may be contributing to the alleged dilution of the RTI watchdog.

Most agencies of public governance or watchdogs are created by the legislature. All of them are established by the executive. Then, why are some of them not on the right’ side of the governments of any day, and why are some others always on the right side of every government? The simple answer is that watchdogs in general are not that high in priority for the executive at all times, for multiple reasons.