Privacy is a fundamental right, says SC

"Sexual orientation is an essential attribute of privacy. Discrimination against an individual on the basis of sexual orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual. Equality demands that the sexual orientation of each individual in society must be protected on an even platform. The right to privacy and the protection of sexual orientation lie at the core of fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution," Justice Dhananjay Y Chandrachud, who authored the lead judgment holding privacy to be a fundamental right, said.

The landmark ruling giving right to privacy the status of a fundamental right may not serve as a dampener for Aadhaar-based schemes as the Supreme Court listed the need, apart from security concerns, to prevent pilferage of scarce public resources as among grounds on which the government would be justified in collecting and storing data.

Aadhaar during UPA regime had no protection of law. We made Aadhaar law and provided legal framework for protection of data, Ravi Shankar Prasad says.

The Supreme Court has taken note of the Committee formed by the Govt on data protection, Ravi Shankar Prasad says

Much before the 9-bench constitutional bench was formed, our govt said in Parliament that privacy is a fundamental right: @rsprasad

& mdash; Times of India (@timesofindia) August 24, 2017

Govt has been of the view, particularly with regard to Aadhaar that Right To Privacy should be a Fundamental Right, says Ravi Shankar Prasad

It strikes a blow on the unbridled encroachment & survellience by the state & its agencies in the life of the common man, she said.

SC decision marks a major blow to fascist forces.A sound rejection of the BJP's ideology of suppression through surveillance#RightToPrivacy

& mdash; Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) August 24, 2017

There is no fault in the concept of Aadhaar, but it is on the government - whether it plans to use or misuse Aadhaar as a tool, says P Chidambaram, Congress

(ANI Photo)

Path breaking & seminal judgement of Supreme Court declares 'Privacy' as fundamental right. A great victory for liberty & freedom.1/2

& mdash; Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) August 24, 2017

Asked if the ruling will have implications on Aadhaar, Bhushan said: This judgement does not say anything about that. He said it appeared that any law which restricts fundamental right will have to be examined on the touchstone of Article 21. "If the government asks for Aadhaar for booking railway tickets or if you buy something then such a law would be considered as unreasonable restriction on Right to Privacy. I feel it will be struck down," Bhushan said.

SC declaring privacy a fundamental right will have serious ramifications, say experts

This judgement is a blow to Aadhaar as the Centre now has to convince SC that forcing citizens to give a sample of their fingerprints and their iris scan does not violate privacy. The SC bench's judgment will touch the lives of 134 crore Indians. It was not meant to decide on the fate of Aadhaar, just on whether privacy of an individual was a part of their inviolable fundamental rights. What this means is a five-judge bench of the SC will test the validity of Aadhaar on the touchstone of privacy as a fundamental right.

Watch: SC says right to privacy is a fundamental right

The common order said that privacy is a fundamental right and part of Article 21, which guarantees protection of life and liberty of an individual.

It also overruled a 6-judge bench ruling of 1962 in Kharak Singh case for finding that privacy is not a fundamental right.

Supreme Court said "the 8-judge bench judgment in 1954 in M P Sharma case ruling that privacy is not a fundamental right" is not the correct law.

Supreme Court overrules eight-judge bench judgment in M P Sharma case and six-judge bench judgment in Kharak Singh case -both of which had ruled that privacy is not a fundamental right.

In a decision that will touch the lives of all 134 crore Indians, a nine-judge Supreme Court bench will pronounce judgment on the complicated issue of whether the privacy of an individual was a part of his/her inviolable fundamental rights? According to SC sources, there will be six judgments on the issue by the bench.

Supreme Court bench

Former Karnataka HC judge, KS Puttaswamy, now 91, filed the PIL in 2012 challenging the Aadhaar scheme, saying it violates fundamental rights to privacy and equality. SC has linked all the 20+ Aadhaar cases to this main case. Petitioners include activists Bezwada Wilson, Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey. For Puttaswamy, this was reportedly the first time he felt the need to petition the courts in any matter

* Cite Kharak Singh and MP Sharma to argue right to privacy is not fundamental

* Privacy is a vague concept, and vague concepts cannot be made fundamental rights

* Framers of Constitution debated but discarded privacy as fundamental right

* Right to life of others, including right to food, is more important than right to privacy

Precedents

* An eight-judge bench ruled in the MP Sharma case (1954) there was no right to privacy under a specific Article, but it did not extinguish a general fundamental right to privacy.

* A six-judge bench in Kharak Singh case (1962) that right to privacy is not fundamental, no longer good law.

* In an unbroken chain of judgments, starting from Gobind vs State of MP and leading up to NALSA vs Union of India (on the rights of transgender persons), the Supreme Court has recognised the fundamental right to privacy.

* Privacy is associated with and is the bulwark of other rights. It is located in the golden trinity of Articles 14, 19, and 21 (right to liberty and equality)

* There can be no dignity without privacy, and dignity is part of the Preamble, part of the basic structure of the Constitution

1. The bench will decide whether a fundamental right to privacy exists under the Indian Constitution.

2. This bench will not decide the fate of Aadhaar, only the nature and status of the right to privacy under the Constitution.

3. The petitioners want SC to recognise, among other things, a fundamental right to privacy under the Constitution