THE WEAKENING OF THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005: CHALLENGES TO TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN INDIA

In India right to information is recognized as fundamental right under article 21 of constitution
and The Right to Information Act of 2005 enables citizens to demand accountability and
transparency from the government. However, this well enacted legislation got weaken by
amendment made under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (‘DPDP Act’),in this
effect section 8(1)(j) of RTI Act got amended to limiting access to personal data without any
public interest assessment. This change infringed the constitutional right to freedom of speech
and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution