The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the functioning of its registry regarding the listing of a public interest litigation (PIL) for hearing over a year after it was last heard in February last year.
“Something so fishy is going on in this court,” said a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, as it heard the PIL on foreign credit companies collecting and storing confidential financial data of consumers without obtaining their consent. “The registrar (judicial) is directed to file a report as to why the matter was not listed after February 2025.” The matter will be heard next on April 10.
The matter was ordered to be listed for hearing in March 17 last year.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Union government, on Monday said that the matter required an elaborate hearing as the home ministry had submitted its response to the PIL pending since 2024.
Senior advocate K Parmeshwar, who assisted the court as amicus curiae, submitted a note based on the government’s response. The court asked Parmeshwar to share his note with Mehta and granted two weeks for the government to file a response.
{{/usCountry}}Senior advocate K Parmeshwar, who assisted the court as amicus curiae, submitted a note based on the government’s response. The court asked Parmeshwar to share his note with Mehta and granted two weeks for the government to file a response.
{{/usCountry}}The petition named four foreign companies and accused them of collecting and processing confidential and sensitive financial data of consumers. It referred to five Indian companies and sought directions for them to protect data privacy and secure financial information.
The petitioner, Surya Prakash, said the actions of the companies are prohibited under the Credit Information Companies Regulation Act, 2005. He said the foreign companies collect and store the data in their servers located outside India in violation of the data localisation principle without the knowledge of individuals and companies, who avail their services.