SC issues notice to Centre on plea challenging DPDP Act

New Delhi: In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of several provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023.

The top court, however, refused to grant an interim stay on the impugned provisions, saying “by an interim order, it will not thwart a regime introduced by Parliament unless we hear the case.”

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi issued a notice to the Centre on the pleas challenging certain provisions of the DPDP Act and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules 2025 over their amendment of the provisions of the Right to Information Act.

The bench also referred three petitions, filed by Venkatesh Nayak on behalf of digital news platform ‘The Reporters Collective’, journalist Nitin Sethi and National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), to a larger bench.

The pleas raised concerns over the “fiduciary” clauses, which allow the central government to requisition data from any data fiduciary at its discretion.

The bench said the matter pertained to “complex and sensitive issues,” and it involved balancing two competing sets of fundamental rights, the Right to Information and the Right to Privacy.

“This is about balancing competing interests. We have to iron out the creases and lay down what constitutes personal information,” the CJI said.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, also appearing for one of the petitioners, pointed to the landmark Subhash Agarwal judgment, asserting that the apex court had already established a framework for balancing RTI and privacy.

However, the bench noted that the new legislative framework required a fresh, deeper examination.