Ten days after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said no more extension would be given to the Joint Committee on Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 to submit its report, two committee members will be moving a motion in the Lok Sabha on Friday asking for an extension till the first week of the winter session of parliament later this year.
The pending Personal Data Protection Bill has become even more relevant amidst the Pegasus snooping revelations, an issue that has rocked the Parliament with Opposition members disrupting the proceedings. In the revised list of business of Lok Sabha for July 23, it is mentioned that BJP MP PP Chaudhary and Biju Janata Dal MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, who are members of the Joint Committee, will move a motion that the House extends upto the first week of the Winter Session of Parliament, 2021, the time for presentation of the Report of the Joint Committee on Personal Data Protection Bill.
The legislation has already suffered delay after it was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 11, 2019 and referred to a parliamentary committee the same day. The report was to be submitted by the committee by the first day of the last week of the Budget Session, 2020 but was extended till the second week of the monsoon session last year. Another extension was then given till the second week of the winter session in 2020 and then another extension till the first week of the 2021 budget session.
The bill followed a report by the Justice Srikrishna Committee on data protection and will govern the processing of personal data by the government, companies incorporated in India and foreign companies dealing with personal data of individuals in India. The legislation categorises certain personal data as sensitive personal data and envisages setting up a Data Protection Authority to prevent misuse of personal data and protect the interests of individuals and stipulates punishments.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, before the start of the session, on July 14 had said there was no scope for granting further extension to the committee to submit its report and said the work done by the committee was already at an advanced stage. The committee has held 66 meetings with various social media companies and government representatives since 2019. Five of the 30-member committee have been elevated in the recent Cabinet reshuffle, including the committee chairperson, Meenakshi Lekhi. A new chairperson is to be appointed and there are seven vacancies in the committee as well.
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