(LiveMint)
In a path breaking decision, the Supreme Court on Thursday held that privacy is a fundamental right under the Constitution of India. “Privacy is intrinsic to the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution and will be included under part III of the Constitution.”, said chief justice J.S. Khehar while pronouncing the unanimous verdict.
The right to privacy will now find place under part III of the Constitution along with other fundamental rights: right to equality before law, right to various freedoms such as speech and expression/to move freely, right against exploitation, right to freedom of religion, cultural and educational rights and right to constitutional remedies.
The court also overruled earlier judgments of M.P Sharma vs Satish Chandra and Kharak Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh that had held privacy to not be a fundamental right. The impact of the ruling on the Centres 12-digit unique identification project, Aadhaar will be understood only once the detailed judgment is uploaded. As a fundamental right, privacy would be granted a much higher degree of protection under the law. Since protection will be higher, recourse under the law will also become more concrete.
