Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled that privacy is a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution. The bench ruled that privacy is intrinsic to freedom of life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, comprised of Justices J Chelameswar, S A Bobde, R K Agrawal, R F Nariman, A M Sapre, D Y Chandrachud, S K Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer. The apex court overruled the previous two judgments in the M P Sharma and Kharak Singh cases, which had ruled that the right to privacy was not protected by the Constitution.
The question about right to privacy was first raised before a bench which was hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the Centre’s move to make Aadhaar mandatory to benefit from social and welfare schemes.
Here are reactions on the bench’s ruling
R. Chandrashkehar: One of the petitioners in the case, he said, “Glad. As the world moves towards digitisation citizens must have rights against misue of information,” as reported by ANI.
Jyotiraditya Scindia: “Welcome unanimous verdict from 9-judge bench declaring #righttoprivacy a fundamental right. Truly a victorious week for India – upholding liberty, dignity and freedom for all.”
Arvind Kejriwal: AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister on Twitter said, “Thank u SC for this v important judgement”
Omar Abdullah: “I have a right to privacy & it’s a fundamental one. Yeyy.”
Salman Khurshid: Taking to Twitter he said, “Privacy Fundamental Right has far reaching implications 4 our democracy. Celebrate the defeat of forces that wish to intrude in our lives. Hope cheer leaders remember the govt aggressively opposed Privacy Right before Court. Shall await ministers congratulating the PM for this.”
P. Chidambaram: “Privacy is a fundamental right. The freedom that was won in 1947 has been enriched and enlarged. Privacy is the core of personal liberty. Article 21 has acquired a new magnificence.”
Thathagata Satpathy: The Odisha MP said, “I adore the strength of this nation. Viva India”.
Subramanian Swamy: The BJP leader said, “Welcome the SC judgment that Right to Privacy is a fundamental Right under Article 21 of the Constitution. Now onto Aadhar modification. PTs note that today SC 9 Bench undid the 1962 8 judge Bench Nehru time decision, holding Privacy as only an ordinary Right”
Randeep Surjewala: “Path breaking & seminal judgement of Supreme Court declares ‘Privacy’ as fundamental right. A great victory for liberty & freedom. S.C rejects Modi Govt’s attempt to whittle down the right to privacy as a fundamental right by AG’s plea of no mention in Constitution.”
Sitaram Yechury: Taking to Twitter he said, “Congratulations to all lawyers, activists, others who fought this govt’s sinister designs to deny Indians their fundamental right to privacy. A far-reaching judgement which will have consequences in various domains, as technology is playing a greater role in our day-to-day lives. We have been opposed to mandatory Aadhaar, data misuse by foreign tech corporates. This judgement will pave the way for securing our rights.”
Prashant Bhushan: The judgment doesn’t say anything about the right of citizens to share bio-metric details for Aadhar. The nine-judge bench held that right to privacy is a fundamental right. Any law which is made to restrict this fundamental right will have to be examined keeping Article 21 in mind. For example, if the government tomorrow says that your Aadhar card will be required for your travel and income tax filings, that in my view are reasonable restrictions. It is a setback to the government as they said right to privacy is not wholly qualified right.”
