New Delhi: After nearly two years of deliberations, Parliament’s Joint Committee on Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 on Monday adopted the report on the Bill which empowers the Center to exempt its investigating agencies from the provisions of the Act.
News agency PTI reported that the move was opposed by opposition MPs, who had filed their dissent note.
Congress leader and party’s chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh, was among four Congress MPs along with two Trinamool Congress MPs and one Biju Janata Dal MP who submitted their dissent note on the committee’s report. PP Choudhary.
The bill which seeks to provide protection of personal data of individuals and set up a data protection authority for the same, was introduced in Parliament in 2019 and then referred to a joint committee for further investigation following a demand from opposition members had gone.
According to the PDP Bill, the central government can exempt its agencies from the provisions of the Act to protect the national interest and safeguard the security of the state, public order, sovereignty and integrity of India.
Exemption of certain provisions for processing of personal data in the interest of prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of any offense or violation of any other law was also provided in the Bill.
PTI in its report noted that opposition members objected to the “unbridled authority” given to the central government to exempt any of its investigating agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI, from the purview of the entire Act.
Some opposing lawmakers suggested that the Center seek parliamentary approval to allow exemptions from the purview of the Act to its agencies to ensure greater accountability, however, the suggestion was not accepted.
The PDP Bill and this report could potentially become another point of contention between the government and the opposition in the upcoming winter session of Parliament starting November 29.
PTI quoted sources as saying that the JCP has made a total of 93 recommendations. It tries to strike a fine balance between the functioning of the government by processing the data for the benefit of the individuals and equally protecting the privacy of the individual, he said.
Parliamentary committee head PP Chowdhury said the government and its agencies are exempted from processing the data of individuals if used for the benefit of individuals and no consent is required if the matter is related to national security. .
The report is the result of extensive deliberations by all the members and stakeholders, he said.
“This law will have a global impact and will set international standards in data protection,” PP Choudhary told PTI.
Congress and TMC MPs raised objection
Earlier today, registering his dissent, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had lauded the democratically functioning of the panel for the past four months.
“I am compelled to submit a detailed dissent note. But this should not diminish the democratic way in which the committee has worked. Now, for debate in Parliament”
“Finally, it’s done… There are dissenting notes but this is the best spirit of parliamentary democracy,” he said. Sadly, such examples are few and far between under the Modi regime.
Finally, it is done. The Joint Committee of Parliament has adopted its report on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019. There are dissent notes, but it is in the best spirit of parliamentary democracy. Sadly, such examples are few and far between under the Modi regime. https://t.co/QV2Oega4m7
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 22, 2021
He said he was forced to submit a detailed dissent note on the bill as his suggestions were not accepted and he was unable to convince the members.
Besides Ramesh, Congress MPs Manish Tewari, Gaurav Gogoi and Vivek Tankha had submitted their dissent notes along with Derek O’Brien and Mohua Moitra of TMC and Amar Patnaik of BJD.
Tiwari and Gogoi also said that they had submitted their dissent notes to the committee’s secretariat after the last meeting of the JCP on the PDP Bill.
To record my dissenting note on the Personal Data Protection Bill to the Committee’s Secretariat after the last meeting of the Joint Committee on Data Protection.
We started in December 2019 and ended in November 2021 pic.twitter.com/xSjIUTLzql— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) November 22, 2021
On the other hand, according to PTI sources, TMC MPs questioned the functioning of the panel as they called the bill “Orwellian” in nature. Sources said they alleged that it went ahead with its mandate and did not provide enough time and opportunity for stakeholder consultations.
He said lawmakers also opposed the bill for the lack of adequate safeguards to protect the right to privacy of data principles.
It was told that in the dissent note, he has also opposed the recommendations to include non-personal data in the law.
TMC lawmakers said the bill provides overboard exemptions to the Indian government without proper safeguards.
Jairam Ramesh, in his dissent note, noted that the JCP report allows a period of two years for private companies to migrate to the new data protection regime, but the government and their agencies have no such condition.
He argued that the design of the Bill assumes that the constitutional right to privacy arises only where the operations and activities of private companies are concerned.
Sources told PTI that while fixing the upper limit in the committee’s report, a provision for penalty has also been kept.
In case of minor defaults, the penalty on the data fiduciary shall not exceed rupees five crore or two per cent of the total worldwide turnover. He said that for major defaults, penalty would also be imposed by the central government, but it would not exceed Rs 15 crore or four per cent of the total worldwide business of the data fiduciary.
(with agency input)
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