JPC head to seek time to submit report on data protection bill

Bharatiya Janata Party MP PP Chaudhary was appointed the new head of the JPC on Thursday after the previous chair, Meenakshi Lekhi, along with several other members, were included in the government as ministers.

The new chair of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) studying the personal data protection law is set to move a motion on Friday to seek time till winter session to submit the panel’s report, the revised list of business for the House said on Thursday.

Members of the committee, people aware of the process, and legal experts say replacements will now need to be appointed before the JPC report can be tabled. (REUTERS)

Bharatiya Janata Party MP PP Chaudhary was appointed the new head of the JPC on Thursday after the previous chair, Meenakshi Lekhi, along with several other members, were included in the government as ministers.

The panel’s report on the personal data protection bill was expected in the monsoon session.

“That this House do extend upto the first week of the Winter Session of Parliament, 2021, the time for presentation of the Report of the Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019,” the revised list of business for Parliament states.

The draft law was introduced in parliament in December 2019 and is meant to provide the legal framework for the right to privacy of Indian citizens. But it was soon referred to a JPC to iron out several contentious issues.

“The draft report remains to be circulated among members of the panel,” said a person aware of the developments, asking not to be named.

The JPC got an extension first till the Winter Session last year, then until the first week of the second half of the Budget Session this year, and finally until the Monsoon Session this month. The committee has met various stakeholders, including industry representatives and civil society members.