Privacy cannot be unqualified... national security overrides everything: Rijiju

The Supreme Court on August 24 ruled that right to privacy is a fundamental right with some restrictions as enshrined in the part III of the constitution.

Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said national security and interest override everything while referring to the recent Supreme Court judgement that declared right to privacy as fundamental right.

Minister of state for home affairs, Kiren Rijiju, at an event in New Delhi.(Sonu Mehta/HT File Photo)

“I am not here to criticise the Supreme Court judgement. It becomes law of the land. The primary responsibility of making law and policies rests with Parliament. We have been authorised by sovereign people of this nation. We have primary responsibility to frame laws,” minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju said at Assocham event on cyber security.

The Supreme Court on August 24 ruled that right to privacy is a fundamental right with some restrictions as enshrined in the part III of the constitution.

The minister said privacy is very important and it is intrinsic part of the fundamental right.

“No doubt about that and no question of revisiting those provisions enshrined in the constitution of India. At the same time privacy cannot be unqualified. There is something called national interest. There is something called national security. When it comes to national security, I personally feel, that national interest overrides everything,” he said.

Rijiju said the benefits through Aadhaar as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi can reach out to individuals if the Indian economy is converted into digital economy.

The minister said digital or the cyber platforms have become an important part of bilateral agreements.

He acknowledged that there are cyber security challenges and people have become vulnerable with their exposure to this world.

“The more we are exposed to this world more vulnerable we have become. I am not discrediting our capability but the reality is what is India’s capability and what is our capacity, there is a huge gap,” he said.

He said that the country has tremendous capability but there is gap in the capacity to deal with challenges which must be narrowed and filled up.