Right to Privacy is fundamental right: SC

New Delhi, Aug 24:  In a landmark decision that will affect the lives of all Indians, the Supreme Court Thursday unanimously declared that right to privacy was a Fundamental right under the Constitution.

A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar ruled that “right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution”.

The ruling on the highly contentious issue was to deal with a batch of petitions challenging the Centre’s move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of various social welfare schemes.

While the Centre had argued that right to privacy is not a Fundamental right, the petitioners had contended that when a citizen gives his biometrics and personal details to the government and when in turn it is used by commercial organisations, it is a breach of privacy.

The judgement was limited to the issue of right to privacy and the question whether Aadhaar violates right to privacy will be dealt with the five-judge bench which has been hearing the petitions since 2015.

In today’s judgement, other members of the bench comprising 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 also shared the same view.

The nine judges unanimously overruled the two earlier judgements of the apex court that right to privacy is not protected under the Constitution.

The bench overruled the M P Sharma verdict of 1950 and that of Kharak Singh of 1960.

The judgement in the Kharak Singh case was pronounced by eight judges and in M P Sharma it was delivered by six judges.

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