The foundation of India’s “right to privacy” jurisprudence is this justice ks puttaswamy vs union of india case. In this case, the nine-judge bench unanimously upheld the right to privacy as a basic freedom guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. The Court determined that the freedoms guaranteed by all fundamental rights depended on the right to privacy, which was deemed a vital element of liberty, autonomy, and dignity.
ks puttaswamy v union of india Case Facts
- The Aadhaar project was developed by the Indian government in 2009 as a universal identity system to better track the distribution of its services.
- The 2009 executive order launched the Aadhaar initiative, which involved gathering biometric data from people to be utilized for service delivery identification and authentication.
- The Aadhaar Act, which was passed in 2016, gave the Aadhaar project official legal status.
- But once the Aadhaar project came under public attention, the Supreme Court eventually heard a challenge to both the administrative action and the Aadhaar Act, alleging that they violated constitutional rights, particularly the right to privacy.
- After the initial writ petition was submitted in 2012, questions over whether the right to privacy is a basic right were raised. As a result, a nine-judge bench was formed to hear the case of justice ks puttaswamy vs union of india ((2017) 10 SCC 1), also known as Puttaswamy I.
- Following Puttaswamy I’s affirmation of the right to privacy as a basic right, the Court scheduled a final hearing for 2018 with a five-judge Constitution Bench.
ks puttaswamy v union of india Issues
- Was the aadhar act a money bill that Parliament could have passed?
- Does the right to privacy get in the way of keeping a record of biometric information?
- Is it appropriate to make Aadhar required in order to receive subsidies and benefits under right to equality and dignity under Section 7?
- Is it possible to mandate the aadhar card for every Indian citizen?
Contentions by the Parties
Petitioner:
- The petitioner argued that article 21 of the Constitution guarantees an individual’s right to life and personal liberty, which in turn includes the right to privacy.
- As the custodian of the people’s rights, the Court thus had an obligation to protect this right in addition to the other rights included in Part III.
Respondent:
- The respondents, through their attorneys, contended that since the Constitution does not specifically guarantee the right to privacy, interpreting it to include the rights to life and personal liberty would amount to judicial overreach.
- Furthermore, they argued that neither the M.P. Sharma case nor the Kharak Singh case qualified as article 21 cases.
ks puttaswamy v union of india Judgment
- A nine-judge Supreme Court (SC) bench unanimously ruled that “privacy” is a constitutionally protected right that is a component of liberty, dignity, and personal autonomy.
- The Supreme Court ruled that the right to privacy is an essential freedom. It is a right that grants people the freedom to make independent decisions about their lives while shielding their inner selves from intrusion from both State and non-State entities.
- One of the fundamental rights that may be found in Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Indian Constitution is the right to privacy.
- At least three things would be covered by the fundamental right to privacy:
- interference with one’s physical person
- privacy of information, and
- decision privacy.
- The Supreme Court ruled that an individual’s right to privacy is a corollary of their ability to govern their personality.
- Unambiguously, the Court has concluded that the right to privacy has always been an inherent one that allows a person to freely choose how they want to express their identity.
- It is also acknowledged that privacy is an inherent, inalienable natural right that each individual possesses.
- The ruling also establishes that, when evaluating a specific provision under article 21, the “just, fair, and reasonable test” should be used, which introduces the idea of proportionality (proportionality test).
- A database containing each Indian citizen’s and resident’s basic biometric data, demographic information, and meta data is created by the aadhaar act. Such power is a threat to individual liberties since it can influence all facets of a person’s life, including their social, professional, religious, and personal ones.
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