PRESS RELEASE ON THE 259th, 260th and 261st REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON HOME AFFAIRS

The presentation of the 259th, 260th, and 261st Reports by the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs on August 7, 2026, marks a significant moment in India's legislative oversight of critical governance domains—cybersecurity, Union Territory administration, and disaster management. Chaired by Dr. Radha Mohan Das Agrawal (MP, Rajya Sabha), the Committee operates under the Rules of Procedure of Parliament, deriving its authority from Article 105 (parliamentary privileges) and the broader framework of parliamentary committees established to ensure executive accountability. The 259th Report, focusing on "Action Taken" on the 254th Report on Cyber Crime, reveals a persistent gap between policy intent and implementation. Despite the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021—framed under Section 87 of the IT Act, 2000—the Committee finds grievance redressal mechanisms fragmented, non-standardized, and inadequately integrated with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. The recommendation for a uniform, multilingual system with unique complaint IDs, tracking, and automatic escalation addresses a core citizen-rights issue under Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty, interpreted to include digital safety). The push for an independent Post Release Review Panel for OTT content—comprising experts in child development, law, and social sciences—reflects growing concern over self-regulation failures, echoing debates around Article 19(2) (reasonable restrictions on speech) and the need for a statutory framework with age verification and penalties. The emphasis on operationalizing the Central Payment Fraud Information Registry as a real-time, interoperable repository aligns with India's digital public infrastructure goals (like UPI and Account Aggregator framework) and the RBI's vision for a secure payment ecosystem. The CBI jurisdiction issue—rooted in Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, requiring state consent—has been exacerbated by states like West Bengal, Punjab, and Kerala withdrawing general consent. The Committee's call to amend the Act for cybercrimes of national/inter-state significance touches on Centre-State relations (Seventh Schedule, List I & III) and the Supreme Court's directions in cases like *Vineet Narain v. Union of India* (1998) on CBI autonomy. The nationwide e-FIR roadmap via I4C (Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre) under MHA addresses the procedural vacuum in converting NCRP complaints into FIRs, crucial for timely asset recovery under Section 154 CrPC (now BNSS). The mandatory cyber-safety curriculum recommendation—involving NCERT, CBSE, State Boards—responds to NEP 2020's emphasis on digital literacy and the rising tide of cybercrimes against children (POCSO Act, IT Act Sections 67B, 66E). Finally, the demand for unified cybercrime legislation and an Integrated Cybercrime Task Force with nationwide jurisdiction signals a move beyond the fragmented IT Act, 2000 amendments, toward a technology-neutral, future-proof law—essential as India chairs the Global Partnership on AI and hosts the G20 Digital Economy Working Group. The 260th Report's commendation of the Vaishno Devi Shrine's disaster management—RFID tracking, AI surveillance, Integrated Command Centre—showcases a replicable model for crowd management at religious sites, relevant to the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and NDMA guidelines. Railway upgrades in J&K (Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla link, Vande Bharat) reflect strategic infrastructure under Article 19(1)(d) (freedom of movement) and national security imperatives in a sensitive border region. Together, these reports underscore Parliament's role in shaping a resilient, secure, and digitally empowered India—where legislative scrutiny translates into actionable governance reform.