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Informist, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Monday referred pleas challenging some sections of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, to a larger bench. The petitions challeged sections allowing public authorities to blankly refuse information on the ground that these were "personal" in nature, empowering the Centre to seek information from data fiduciaries, and the selection of members of the Data Protection Board. However, the bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant refused to stay the sections of the 2023 Act and 2025 Rules, saying, "(There is) no question of stay. By an interim order, (we) will not thwart a regime introduced by Parliament unless we hear the case".

 

The bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, said the issue was "complex, but interesting" and touched upon the "fundamental rights of both sides." The apex court said "some ironing out of the creases might be needed to strike a balance". It listed the case for hearing on Mar. 23.

 

Human rights and transparency activist Venkatesh Nayak, the National Campaign for People's Right to Information, The Reporters' Collective, and Nitin Sethi, a journalist, have challenged some sections of the 2023 Act and the 2025 Rules. They have contested that Section 44(3) of the 2023 Act has amended Section 8(1)(j)of the Right to Information Act, 2005 to facilitate public authorities to refuse information on the ground that the details sought were of a "personal" nature. The petitioners said that the amendment has turned the fundamental right to privacy on its head. The right, meant to protect ordinary citizens against state incursion, has been extended to protect the state and public functionaries from the Right to Information disclosures, said the petitioners.

 

The petitioners said the Constitutional consequence of the amendment was immediate and serious. Every RTI application involving identifiable public officials, procurement records, audit reports, appointment files, utilisation of public funds, or exercise of statutory discretion can now be denied automatically on the ground that it "relates to personal information", said the petitioner. The balancing mechanism that ensured proportionality has been dismantled, they said. 

 

They have also challenged Section 36 of the 2023 Act, read with Rule 23 of the 2025 Rules, which empowered the Centre to call for information from data fiduciaries and intermediaries. The section and rule was vague and arbitrary and violated the right to equality and right to various freedoms, including the freedom of speech and expressions, as intrusions by the government on information were not demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society, said the petitioners. 

 

In addition, the petitioners have challenged provisions of the 2025 Rules, which provide the executive dominance in the formation of search-cum-selection committees for the appointment of the chairperson and members of the Data Protection Board. The petitioners said that the executive dominance was in violation of the doctrine of separation of powers. 

 

The 2023 Act applies to the processing of digital personal data within India where such data is collected online or offline, and is digitised. It also applies to such processing outside India, if it is for offering goods or services in India. The 2023 Act grants certain rights to individuals, including the right to obtain information, seek correction and erasure, and grievance redressal. Last year, the government notified the 2025 Rules, which sought to protect citizens' digital data.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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