SC to examine impact of DPDP law on RTI, investigative journalism
The Supreme Court of India is reviewing whether the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, undermines the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Petitioners argue that the new law allows the state to withhold information by broadly classifying it as 'personal data'.
Why it matters
This case addresses the critical tension between individual privacy rights and the public's right to government transparency.
The Supreme Court on Friday (August 7, 2026) agreed to examine if the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 can be used to cripple the Right to Information Act by classifying all data as “personal” and, separately, gag investigative journalists.
The court said both the DPDP Act and the RTI Act were central legislations. There was a need to actually harmonise them.
“The earlier law (Right to Information Act, 2005) gave certain access with conditions. Here (2023 Act), there is an en bloc embargo. Is this latter law repugnant to earlier law? This has to be looked into with extreme circumspection. After all, both are central laws. There is a need to actually harmonise these two,” Justice Joymalya Bagchi remarked.
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