Times of India: Aurangabad: Thursday, September
06, 2018.
Experts have taken strong objection to
certain provisions in the draft Data Protection Bill 2018, terming it
detrimental to the RTI Act 2005. The draft legislation is out in public domain
for suggestions and objections till September 10.
Former central information commissioner
Shailesh Gandhi has termed the proposed bill a very dangerous attack on RTI, saying
that it would be used to deny any information which may have the name of a
person.
In a representation made before the
ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY), Gandhi objected to
the proposed bill suggesting amendment to Section 8 (1)(j) of the RTI Act.
“Such a provision is likely to make this
exemption an omnibus exemption since any information regarding any individual
could be denied unless the applicant would be able to show a larger public
interest. This is extremely difficult to prove and to adjudicate,” he said.
The concerned provision in the draft bill
suggests to exempt information which relates to personal data which is likely
to cause harm to a data principal, where such harm outweighs the public
interest in accessing such information having due regard to the common good of
promoting transparency and accountability in the functioning of the public
authority; provided, disclosure of information under this clause shall be
notwithstanding anything contained in the Personal Data Protection Act, 2018;
provided further, that the information, which cannot be denied to Parliament or
a state legislature shall not be denied to any person.
Elaborating on the grounds for opposing
the provision, Gandhi said, “Most information sought by citizens using the
Right to Information will be denied on the grounds that it could cause some
harm to a data principal.”
He further added, “In the 13 years of the
operation of the RTI Act there has been no serious report of any harm caused
due to disclosure of any personal information. There is absolutely no reason to
make any changes in this provision.”
The Section 8 (1)(j) of RTI Act 2005 in
question exempts information which relates to personal information the
disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or
which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless
the central public information officer or the state public information officer
or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger
public interest justifies the disclosure of such information: provided that the
information, which cannot be denied to Parliament or a state legislature shall
not be denied to any person.
It summarises that only if information
does not relate to a public activity or disclosure would be an unwarranted
invasion of the privacy of an individual, then the information could be denied.
Senior RTI activist Vivek Velankar said
it was objectionable on the part of the Centre to come out with a draft
legislation which would have bearing on the existing legislation.
It should not happen that the Data
Protection Bill and the RTI Act 2005 prove contradictory to each other.
Therefore, necessary objections must be submitted to the Centre within
stipulated time-frame, he said.