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