The Transparency Paradox: From “Right To Know” To “Right To Privacy”: How DPDP Act Silences The Citizens Of India

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Vinay Yadav, Research Scholar, Department of Law, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana

Dr. (Prof.) Preety Jain, Chairperson & Dean, Department of Law, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana

ABSTRACT

For a democracy to flourish, the government must ensure transparency to its citizens while safeguarding their privacy. For the past twenty years, India has maintained this fragile equilibrium, which has been disrupted with the enactment of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

This study analyzes the "Transparency Paradox,” a phenomenon wherein legislation designed to protect individual privacy and their liberty is being used to prevent government operations from public scrutiny and thus making the system opaque. It is contended that by elimination of the "Public Interest Override" and "Parliamentary Parity" provisions, the government has substantially curtailed citizens' fundamental Right to know through legal criteria. This is not only a legal amendment but also a fundamental transformation that promotes a lack of transparency, avoids accountability, and leaves the general public uninformed.

Keywords: DPDP Act 2023, Fundamental Right, Democracy, Right to Know, RTI Act, 2005, Right To Privacy.

THE TRANSPARENCY PARADOX- FROM “RIGHT TO KNOW” TO “RIGHT TO PRIVACY”- HOW DPDP ACT SILENCE.

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