Opposition urges govt to protect rights, repeal amendment to RTI Act

The Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) has urged the government to protect the rights of citizens and not crush them with its might as it sought the repeal of the amendment made to the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The amendment was made through the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, which exempts all personal information from disclosure. DPDP Act’s Section 44(3) changed the RTI Act’s Section 8(1)(j), which allowed non-disclosure of personal information only if it had no relation to public activity or interest, or would result in an unwarranted invasion of privacy. Even then, the information could still be disclosed if a public authority deemed that a larger public interest justified it.

At a joint press conference of the INDIA bloc on Thursday, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said that over 100 Opposition lawmakers, including Rahul Gandhi, have signed a petition addressed to Union information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, urging the repeal of Section 44(3). The petition said the amendment poses a serious risk of undermining the people’s ability to access critical information under the RTI Act.

MM Abdulla (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena-UBT), John Brittas (Communist Party of India-Marxist), Javed Ali Khan (Samajwadi Party), and Naval Kishor (Rashtriya Janata Dal) attended the press conference,

Vaishnaw responded to the concerns on X maintaining the new law was in “harmony” with personal liberty and privacy principles. He cited the consultation process with civil society and in multiple parliamentary fora. Vaishnav added the “need for harmonious provisions between the right to information and the right to privacy was emphasised” and that the DPDP Act maintains this. He said the harmony is ensured through Section 3 of the DPDP Act, which says “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 an obligation under any law for the time being in force in India to make such personal data publicly available.”

Vaishaw said any personal information subject to disclosure under “legal obligations” and laws governing public representatives and welfare programmes, such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act among others “will continue to be disclosed under the RTI Act.”

He said the amendment will not restrict disclosure of personal information and rather aims to strengthen the privacy rights of individuals and prevent the potential misuse of the law.

The petition to him said the RTI Act’s 8(1)(j) had guardrails to protect against unwarranted invasion of privacy. “The DPDP Act now exempts all personal information from disclosure, without a public interest test. This will drastically weaken the RTI Act and have a detrimental impact on the citizens’ fundamental right to information,” the petition said.