On February 18, 2026, the Delhi High Court asked the Union government to respond to a petition challenging parts of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023. The petition, filed by Mr. Chandresh Jain, argues that sections of the Act grant unchecked executive access to data and weaken judicial independence. A Bench led by Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia issued a notice to the Central government. The case is set for hearing in April. The petition targets Sections 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 29, 30, 36, 37, 39, 40, and 44 of the DPDP Act. It claims these provisions allow data to be accessed or blocked without proper hearings or meaningful consent and contain opaque exemptions. The plea states, "The DPDP Act creates a closed loop of Executive power, where the first adjudicator (Data Protection Board) and the appellate authority (Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal) both remain under Executive control, while Section 39 expressly bars the jurisdiction of civil courts. This structure is Constitutionally unsustainable and violates the human rights requirement of an independent adjudicatory body." The petition adds that these rules "strike at the heart of human rights jurisprudence, Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, and the democratic promise of a free society." It further alleges the Act and its Rules "enable broad state surveillance, long-term storage of personal and behavioural data, excessive Executive control over the Data Protection Board, and opaque mechanisms for obtaining personal data without consent or transparency." According to the petition, the impugned provisions violate "the Constitutional guarantees of equality, privacy, informational autonomy, free expression, and procedural fairness," as well as "the Constitutional principles of separation of powers and judicial independence." The petitioner also claims that the Act fails to create a "right-protective" privacy framework and that several provisions must be struck down or modified to meet constitutional standards.