New Delhi (Agency):In a recent development, Congress leader Manish Tewari has questioned the categorization of the Digital Data Protection Bill as a financial bill, insisting it should be treated as a regular one. Tewari voiced his concerns on Thursday and recommended the bill should be evaluated by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) once again.
The Digital Data Protection Bill aims to increase the accountability and responsibility of various entities, including internet companies, mobile apps, and businesses, regarding the collection, storage, and processing of citizens’ data, treating these activities as part of the Right to Privacy.
However, Tewari queried the sudden classification of this bill as a Financial Bill, emphasizing that it must be treated as a regular bill and reviewed by a JPC. He expressed his concerns on Twitter, stating that if the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla certifies the bill as a money bill, which seems to be the intent of categorizing it as a Financial Bill, then the Rajya Sabha can only recommend non-binding changes to the Lok Sabha, rather than voting on it.
Tewari, who is also a Member of Parliament from Punjab, shared a copy of the presidential order that classified the bill as a Money Bill. He said, “The latest iteration of this Bill mocks the efforts put in by the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Data Protection Bill led by two BJP members P P Chaudhary and Meenakshi Lekhi respectively.”
The development of the data protection bill commenced after the Supreme Court declared that the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right. Last year, in August, the government withdrew the previous personal data protection bill, which was introduced in late 2019, and released a new version of the draft bill in November 2022. The draft bill faced criticism concerning the government’s power to exempt certain entities from various clauses of the bill.
