As India continues to dither on the passing of the Indian version of Data Protection law, our neighbour, Sri Lanka has gone ahead and passed its “Personal Data Protection Act 2022”.
It is interesting to note the comment made by Justice Minister Ali Sabry that
“There is nothing called perfect legislation..we cannot sit and wait for tomorrow to do the legislation….Will accommodate amendments if there are serious concerns”.
This appears to be a direct comment on the Indian approach to the legislation which is one of procrastination and lack of commitment. (Refer this article).
It is clear that even in Sri Lanka there is the same kind of opposition to the Act as in India but the Government has shown the resolve to go ahead with the legislation.
Indian law may be better in terms of the protection of privacy but still the Government seems to lack the will to pass the law. It is possible that the commercial lobbies in India are strong and have the support of the political opposition to the Government and hence the Government is hesitant to pass the law.
Indian Parliament needs to take a lesson from Sri Lanka in this regard.
P.S: we are watching for the final published version to make further comments
Naavi
