NEW DELHI: In a landmark judgement, a nine-judge Supreme Court bench on Thursday declared privacy a fundamental right, a decision that may impact everything from the government's signature Aadhaar programme to civil liberties, to gay rights to collection and use of personal data by Internet and financial firms. The verdict can also impact restrictions on right to convert and choice of food.
Overruling two earlier verdicts which held that right to privacy was not protected by the Constitution, the bench of Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, Justices R K Agrawal, S Abdul Nazeer, D Y Chandrachud, J Chelameswar, S A Bobde, A M Sapre, Rohinton F Nariman and S K Kaul ruled that “the right to privacy is protected 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”.
The orders — there were six in all — made it clear that this right could not be absolute and would be “subject to the restrictions specified”. Justice Chandrachud wrote for himself, Chief Justice Khehar and Justices Agrawal and Nazeer while the remaining five wrote their own orders.