After Another Extension, Report on Data Protection Bill to be Presented in Parliament on December 21

The much-awaited report on the data protection bill is likely to be presented in Parliament on December 21, after the joint committee on the bill, led by chairperson PP Chaudhary, sought yet another extension during the first week of the winter session of Parliament.

Sources told CNN-News18 that the delay was due to the report being translated from English to Hindi. The report along with annexures and reporting of meetings makes it a total 550 pages. Apart from the translation, it will also take time to print the report for members of both houses.

The joint committee had adopted the report in the last week of November, after more than 87 meetings and six separate meetings over study tours.

There eight dissent notes objecting to certain clauses of the bill by Congress MPs Jairam Ramesh, Manish Tewari, Gaurav Gogoi and Vivek Tankha; TMC MP Mahua Moitra and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien; Rajya Sabha MP from Biju Janta Dal Amar Patnaik; and BSP MP Ritesh Pandey.

Once the report is tabled in Parliament, it will be sent back to the concerned ministry following which it will be brought to the cabinet for approval. Once the cabinet gives approval, then it will be brought to Parliament as a bill to be passed by both houses.

Since the report will be presented on the third last day before the end of the ongoing winter session, it is likely that the bill will be passed during the budget session.

Sources said the committee had proposed over 200 amendments, 170 of which were made by Chaudhary. The bill is now being called the data protection bill instead of personal data protection bill, as data refers to personal as well as non-personal. It also involves issues of national security, sovereignty and integrity of the country.

The committee did a deep study of the proposed legislation that is likely to have a global impact.

The bill, which was introduced as the personal data protection bill, 2019, in the Lok Sabha by electronics and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in December that year, underwent parliamentary scrutiny upon insistence from members of the House.

In February 2020, the committee invited suggestions and views from the public as well as experts, stakeholders and organisations. This feedback was compiled and shared with the IT ministry. Ministry officials, stakeholders including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Nasscom, Truecaller, Ola, Uber and Reserve Bank of India, have also made representations before the committee.

Read all the Latest India News here