The General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (“GDPR”) came into force in May 2018 as an over arching regulation to safeguard data and privacy in the European Union (“EU”) and European Economic Area. In India, in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) & Anr v Union of India & Ors. (“Privacy Judgment”), a nine judge bench of the Supreme Court of India impressed upon the need for a strong data protection regime. The ministry of electronics and information technology (“MeitY”) formulated a committee of experts, headed by Justice B. N. Srikrishna (former Indian Supreme Court Judge) (“Srikrishna Committee”). This committee submitted its report in July 2018, which contained a draft data protection law, i.e. the draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 (“2018 Draft Bill”). This draft was floated for public comments. As extensive comments and information from consultations with diverse stakeholders was received on the Bill, the government planned to revise the 2018 Draft Bill. The revised version was tabled before the Indian Parliament in December 2019 as the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 (“New Bill”).
About the Author
The Author is a Lawyer Practicing in Delhi High Court.
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