India’s Privacy and RTI Law

India’s privacy and transparency framework is being shaped by the interaction between the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and the Right to Information Act.

The central legal question is when personal information may be withheld and when public interest, journalism, democratic accountability, or a court proceeding justifies disclosure. Challenges brought by transparency activists and journalists before the Supreme Court have focused on whether the amended RTI regime could limit reporting on officials and contractors, while related rulings examine access to salary records and the use of hotel or call-detail records in matrimonial cases. Together, these disputes illustrate the practical limits of privacy rights in public and judicial settings.