The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Centre on a plea challenging multiple provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. The petition alleges excessive executive control, surveillance powers, and violation of fundamental rights including privacy and judicial independence.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Central government to respond to a petition challenging several provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDPA), alleging that the law allows excessive surveillance and gives sweeping powers to the executive, thereby affecting judicial independence and fundamental rights.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia issued notice to the Centre on a petition filed by Chandresh Jain. The matter has now been listed for further hearing in April.
The petition questions the constitutional validity of Sections 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 29, 30, 36, 37, 39, 40 and 44 of the DPDPA along with the corresponding rules framed under the Act. According to the plea, these provisions allegedly allow unchecked executive access to citizens’ personal data, enable blocking of information without giving a proper hearing, dilute the requirement of meaningful consent, and create broad exemptions that lack transparency.
The petitioner has also raised concerns about the dilution of the Right to Information Act and the structure of the Data Protection Board and the appellate tribunal, claiming that both are controlled by the executive. The plea argues that this concentration of power undermines the principle of separation of powers and judicial independence.
The petition states that the impugned provisions
“strike at the heart of human rights jurisprudence, constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, and the democratic promise of a free society”.
It further claims,
“The DPDP Act and DPDP Rules together enable broad state surveillance, long-term storage of personal and behavioural data, excessive executive control over the data protection board, and opaque mechanisms for obtaining personal data without consent or transparency,”
the petition said.
Raising serious constitutional concerns, the plea also asserts,
“The impugned provisions collectively violate the constitutional guarantees of equality, privacy, informational autonomy, free expression, and procedural fairness. The provisions violate the constitutional principles of separation of powers and judicial independence,”
it added.
According to the petitioner, the Act does not provide a strong, citizen-centric privacy protection framework. The plea contends that the law fails to create a “right-protective” privacy framework, and that the provisions must be struck down, read down or severed to be in conformity with the Constitution.
The case is significant as it directly challenges the framework of India’s new data protection regime, which was introduced to regulate the processing of digital personal data while balancing state interests and individual rights. The outcome of the case could have a major impact on how personal data is handled by both government authorities and private entities in India.
The Delhi High Court will now examine whether the contested provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 are consistent with constitutional guarantees, including the right to privacy recognised by the Supreme Court, and whether adequate safeguards exist to prevent misuse of executive power.
The Centre is expected to file its response before the next hearing in April.
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