The first draft of The Data Protection Bill was produced by retired Supreme Court Justice B.N. Srikrishna in 2018, and he claims that the Modern Personal Data Protection Bill is biased in favor of the government. According to him, the new Bill can inspire the executive to act unlawfully and violate the basic right to the privacy of personal information.
Positive and Negative effects of The Bill
The decrease in size and the clarity of the language are positive sides of this new draft of The Data Protection Bill, but one cannot sacrifice the clarity of the law for simplicity. The use of consent supervisors is wise and advantageous for data principals. If the Data Board is a controller, it will be a slave of the government with no independence; if it is not, there is no controller at all. The Data Board was created by the administration with no rules on its composition, establishment, qualifications of its chair and members, etc. The Government is benefited from the Bill. All crucial issues have been transferred to delegated legislation, such a law will be nullified and unconstitutional because it would allow the executive to act unfairly.
It is necessary to have a strong, independent regulator, such as the Data Protection Authority proposed in the 2018 model. This new draft of The Digital Data Protection Bill is more harmful than the prior 2019 Bill. The so-called regulator won’t be independent; instead, it will be a government puppet. All governmental bodies may be freed from some legal requirements. That invites the government to take unlawful action. Without legislative direction from the law, there is an excessive dependence on the government’s regulations.
The Bill Violates The Supreme Court Judgement
The Supreme Court’s declaration that the right to privacy is basic freedom must only be restricted when it is “necessary,” “reasonable,” and “appropriate.” This criterion has been entirely violated. That goes against the legal interpretation provided by the Supreme Court in Puttaswamy’s judgment. Therefore, this bill has so many major flaws as it would allow the government to act freely and violate the basic right to privacy of personal data.
