To be Tabled Soon! India’s Data Protection Law

In other news, after much discussion and deliberation by the Joint Parliamentary Committee, India’s Data Protection Law, The Personal Data Protection Bill is likely to be tabled in the Budget Session of 2021. This is an important update regarding the progress of the much-anticipated new law.

The deliberative journey of the Bill is not too long, where it all began in 2017 after the landmark judgement, K.S. Puttaswamy vs. Union of India gave to India, the fundamental right to privacy. This stirred the conversation of data privacy, compelling the government to set up a committee lead by Justice B.N. Srikrishna. The committee gave birth to the first ideal brain child which was yet to be moulded to fit the Government’s beau ideal. Thus, after the committee submitted the, Draft Personal Data Protection Bill alongside report titled, A Free and Fair Digital Economy: Protecting Privacy, Empowering Indians, the same was introduced in the Parliament. After the onset of its moulding process, beginning 11 December 2019, the bill has undergone many changes. Under the perusal of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, the bill has far drifted from Justice Srikrishna’s perception. Finally the bill is seen to be coming to the last leg of its journey before becoming a codified law.