Privacy a Fundamental Right or Not? SC to Pronounce Verdict Today

During the course of hearings, the top court had observed that privacy is a fundamental right, but could not be considered "absolute".

Updated: August 24, 2017 9:43 AM IST

By India.com News Desk

Privacy a Fundamental Right or Not? SC to Pronounce Verdict Today
The SC verdict today will be the final judgement of outgoing CJI J S Khehar (File image/PTI)

New Delhi, Aug 24: The nine-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court would pronounce its verdict in the right to privacy case today. The judicial order is expected to impact Centre’s initiative to turn the usage of Aadhaar mandatory for filing tax returns and availing social security benefits.

The hearings in the right to privacy case were concluded on August 2, with the bench comprising of Chief Justice of India J S Khehar reserving its judgement. (ALSO READ: Meet the nine judges who will decide whether the right to privacy is a fundamental right)

The verdict would form the basis of hearing further arguments in the Aadhaar case, where a batch of petitioners challenged government’s decision to make Aadhaar mandatory. According to critics of the move, the compulsory usage of the 12-digit biometric unique identification number would turn the citizens vulnerable to surveillance by the state.

What exactly will the Supreme Court decide on?

SC verdict today would neither give Centre the clean chit to turn Aadhaar mandatory, nor impose restrictions to it. The judgement would reveal whether right to privacy, considered part of Article 21 (Right to Life and Liberty) should be included among the fundamental rights.

The verdict would subsequently aide the five-member apex court bench to arrive at a conclusion in the ongoing Aadhaar case, where the court has clubbed a batch of petitions challenging the mandatory usage of Aadhaar.

Senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam, who is one of the petitioners in the case, argued before the SC that right to privacy is associated with a person’s honour and therefore should be considered as a fundamental right which the “state shall take all measures to protect”.

“The right to privacy is recognised as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. The concept of privacy is embedded in liberty as well as a person’s honour,” he argued before the bench.

However, attorney general KK Venugopal countered the arguments claiming that right to privacy is “conditional”, despite being fundamental.

“Privacy is a species of liberty, which is subordinate to the right to life. Aadhaar is to secure the poor’s right to life such as food and shelter,” Venugopal had said.

He further claimed that the mandatory usage of Aadhaar for availing social security benefits has allowed the government to plunge the loopholes in the system which deprived the poor their rights.

According to Venugopal, the “elitist” perspective of right to privacy could destroy the “right to life” of 270 million poor people in the nation, adding that “right to life” is a more essential fundamental right as compared to privacy.

‘Will assure data protection’

Additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who represented the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), said the mechanism of Aadhaar is to maintain unique identity of the citizen, rather than using the data for surveillance. “Even if the state desires, it cannot spy on the citizens,” he said.

To further assure the bench, Mehta said the government has set-up a 10-member committee of experts under the chairmanship of retired Supreme Court judge Justice BN Srikrishna to draft bill on data protection framework.

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