New Delhi [India], October 27 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the Centre’s response to a plea filed by a group of legacy media organisations, Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), challenging provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, on the ground that its application to news organisations in India could hamper investigative journalism, compromise confidential journalistic sources and virtually shut down newsrooms in the country.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued a notice to the Centre on the plea after senior advocate Madhavi Divan, appearing for the Association, argued that the law could require journalists to seek consent from persons they are investigating. She submitted that this could leave journalists dependent on the very individuals they are reporting on and could effectively “close down newsrooms”.
Divan told the Court that the legislation was not intended to regulate journalists and its application to news organisations could create a “pre-censorship regime”. She urged the Court to consider granting interim protection, submitting that the provisions could affect how journalists gather, retain and report information.
The CJI, however, said a balance would have to be maintained between protection of citizens’ data and the freedom of the press. The bench observed that the petitioners, being “domain experts”, were best placed to assist the Union government and the Court in identifying possible misuse of the law while ensuring that the rights of citizens were protected.
The Court declined to grant an interim stay on the law at this stage, observing that there could be no stay without hearing the other side and sought the Centre’s response.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on November 17.
The plea filed by the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), which represents several major news organisations, has raised concerns over provisions governing the collection, use, retention and deletion of personal data, arguing that their application to news organisations could interfere with newsgathering and the protection of sources.
The plea also comes against the backdrop of the phased implementation of the data protection framework, with several substantive provisions of the law scheduled to take effect from May 2027.
Petitioners are represented by Senior Advocate Madhavi Diwan and Advocate Anuj Tiwari. (ANI)
SC seeks Centre’s response on media associations’ plea challenging DPDP Act
