The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Centre on a petition by the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) challenging provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 and its Rules, with the next hearing set for November 17.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana heard senior advocate Madhavi Divan for the DNPA, which represents 21 news publishers. The court declined an ex parte stay, saying there could be no stay without hearing the other side, and sought the government's response.

Divan argued, as reported by Reuters and other outlets, that requiring journalists to seek consent from the people they write about would amount to pre-censorship, could compromise confidential sources and could shut down newsrooms. The petition also challenges the amendment to Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.

The bench observed that a balance has to be struck between protecting citizens' data and press freedom, and noted that the publishers, as domain experts, could help identify possible misuse of the law. The government has maintained it respects press freedom. Sources: Reuters, Devdiscourse, Law Trend and Storyboard18.