Supreme Court landmark Judgement-Right to Privacy

The Supreme Court today pronounced a landmark Judgement on individual privacy as a fundamental right protected by the Constitution. This ruling was delivered by a nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, comprises 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.

This Judgement of 547 Pages have been has been divided into several sections starting with the brief discussion on the decisions in the case of  MP sharma and Kharak Singh, doctrine governing the fundamental rights founded in the AK Gopalan case, Origins of privacy, evolution of the privacy doctrine in India, comparative analysis on privacy laws in UK, US, south Africa and other nations have been broadly discussed . Reference has been made to the criticism of the privacy doctrines by various foreign writers, philosophers and experts in the field of privacy law. Draft report by constituent assembly on privacy being the fundamental right- limits of originalist Interpretation,  Is the statutory protection to privacy reason to deny a constitutional right?, Not an elitist construct, Substantive Due Process, Essential nature of privacy and Informational Privacy.

The landmark verdict has bolstered the proposition of the petitioners and the bench did not say anything categorical on biometrics for Aadhaar.

The apex court in its final decision has overruled the previous judgments in the M P Sharma and Kharak Singh cases, which had found that the right to privacy was not protected by the Constitution. Protected right to privacy as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution.

Download Supreme Court Judgement on right to privacy