The Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the new Data Protection Bill will be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament in July this year.
Attorney General of India R Venkataramani told a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph that the Centre will introduce the new Data Protection Bill in the coming monsoon session of Parliament and then a hearing can be scheduled.
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“It will meet all the concerns expressed by the petitioners about personal data protection,” the AG told the bench.
However, senior advocate Shyam Divan told the bench that, “We are no closer to a bill than we were in February. I would request that the case be listed in July. My only hope is, whenever the bench is constituted next it may be taken up in earnest. Please do not link our court hearing to the legislative process, it is complex. Our court goes by our parameters.”
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The bench, after taking note of the Attorney General’s statement, said the matter will now be placed before the registry to be placed before the Chief Justice of India for reconstituting the bench.
The composition of the present five-judge bench will change as two of the judges will retire in the coming two months.
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“Keeping all this in consideration, let the Chief Justice of India decide the constitution of the new bench and place the matter for hearing in the first week of August,” the bench said.
The court was hearing the case related to WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy, and whether it violates the users’ right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.
