NEW DELHI: The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill is ready and will be introduced in Parliament during the upcoming monsoon session, the Attorney General (AG) R. Venkataramani informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The bill would also address concerns raised by petitioners about personal data protection in connection with WhatsApp privacy policy.
The Supreme Court ordered WhatsApp to make it widely known in the media on February 1 that users are not need to accept its privacy policy as of 2021 and that WhatsApp's operation will not be impacted until the new Data Protection Bill takes effect.
The Attorney General stated on Tuesday that the Bill is prepared in front of a five-judge constitution bench presided over by Justice K.M. Joseph. The proposal would be made to Parliament. The Attorney General stressed, "In the monsoon session, the Bill will be introduced..." Justice Joseph asked the AG, "Monsoon Session means?" The AG replied that it will be in July.
The petition can then be posted for hearing in July, the bench, which also included Justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy, and C.T. Ravikumar, said. Senior attorney Kapil Sibal, who is currently speaking for WhatsApp, stated that the session will take place at the end of July. The bench was told that it would be more sensible to hold a hearing in this matter in August.
One of the petitioners' attorney, senior advocate Shyam Divan, argued that the case should have been listed earlier and that the Bill was intended to be tabled at the previous winter session but was not.
The AG retorted that the consultation process is ongoing, "do not complain that we are taking time, and you want a good law to emerge," adding that "it went through a highly competent consultation procedure." Divan responded, "We, of course, want a good law to come," and urged the court to not draw any parallels between the court proceedings and the legislative process. She also emphasised how complicated the legislative process is and that the Bill might be referred to a committee or be moved in one direction or another.
The bench took note of the AG's arguments that the Bill, which would address all the issues, will be tabled during the Monsoon Session, which will start in July, after hearing the submissions. The bench suggested that the matter be brought before the Chief Justice of India in light of the situation so that a bench may be formed, ideally in the first week of August.
In its ruling on February 1st, the Supreme Court had noted: "The respondents, in particular the learned Attorney General and the learned Solicitor General representing the Union of India, once more brought to our attention the existence of a bill titled the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, when these issues were brought up. They argue that the Bill would address every issue that is the focus of the petitions before this court, and they take the position that the issues might not be heard." A challenge brought by two students, Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi, challenging the agreement made between WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook to provide access to conversations, texts, photos, videos, and documents shared by users was being heard by the top court. The petitioners argued that it violates their right to privacy and freedom of speech.
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