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Pause, review, repeal RTI-destroying amendment: Cong to Ashwini Vaishnaw

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Days after Union Information and Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Digital Personal Data Protection Act would not hamper disclosures under legal obligations, the Congress on Sunday urged Vaishnaw to “pause, review, and repeal” the amendment made to the RTI Act, 2005.

On April 10, Vaishnaw responded to a letter on March 23 from Congress MP and general secretary in charge for communication Jairam Ramesh.

Citing Section 3 of the DPDP Act, he had said, “Subject to the provisions of this Act, it shall… (c), not apply to (ii) personal data that is made or caused to be made publicly available by… (B) any other person who is under the obligation under any law for the time being in force in India to make such personal data publicly available.”

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Ramesh wrote back to Vaishnaw Sunday, highlighting four points as a “counter-response” to the minister’s “defence of the RTI-destroying amendment”.

Ramesh said that Section 3 of the DPDP Act, 2023, cited in Vaishnaw’s letter as protecting disclosures under the RTI Act, 2005, “is wholly irrelevant since Section 8(1) of the RTI Act, 2005 itself has been amended drastically”.

“Section 3 of the DPDP Act will now only protect disclosures as per the amended RTI Act, which exempts all personal information from being accessible,” Ramesh said.

In his second point, the MP said that “the operation of the RTI Act, 2005 — informed by several judgments by the Supreme Court and various High Courts has demonstrated that the law is able to withhold the disclosure of personal information which has no relationship to any public activity or public interest”.

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“Third, the deletion of the proviso in Section 8(1) of the RTI Act, 2015 which recognizes the citizens’ right to information as being at par with that of legislators is completely unwarranted. In fact, that proviso is applicable not just to the personal information exemption, but all exemptions in section 8(1) of the RTI Act, 2005,” said Ramesh.

Ramesh also said that the Union Minister mentions SC’s Puttaswamy judgment, and adds that he should “remember that nowhere in this judgment is it mentioned that the RTI Act, 2005 itself needs to be amended”.

“The judgment reinforces that safeguarding personal privacy and promoting institutional transparency are not mutually exclusive but are jointly essential,” said Ramesh.

Vaishnaw in his letter earlier had referred to the top court’s Puttaswamy judgment which had held privacy to be an integral part of right to life, and underlined that protection of personal information was important.

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Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, K C Venugopal and John Brittas had also written to Vaishnaw to repeal Section 44 (3) of the Act, as it “amends the Right to Information”. They stated that 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.

At a joint press conference on April 10, INDIA bloc parties had criticised the Centre, raising concerns that the DPDP Act would render the RTI Act toothless and make investigative journalism difficult.





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