Armyman, ex-judge, Magsaysay awardee, activist: Meet the main petitioners in fight for privacy rights

The four petitioners championed the right to privacy while challenging the 12-digit unique identification number, Aadhaar.

Updated on: Aug 24, 2017, 19:05:44 IST

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By Chetan Chauhan

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The Supreme Court on Thursday made individual privacy a fundamental right, a verdict that will have significant implications on a range of issues.

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that citizens have a constitutional right to privacy, a landmark verdict that could have wide-reaching implications. (AFP Photo)

The top court gave its ruling while disposing a bunch of petitions that challenged the 12-digit Aadhaar number saying the biometric-based identity infringed on one’s right to privacy derived from Article 21 of the Constitution dealing with fundamental right to life.

Here is what the four main petitioners, who have been dogged in their fight for right to privacy – have to day about what the court’s verdict means for Aadhaar.

Justice (retired) K S Puttaswamy

Former judge of Karnataka high court, Justice (retired) K S Puttaswamy was the first to challenge the 12-digit unique identification number Aadhaar in the SC. He argued the biometric-liked ID number infringed one’s right to privacy, which is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.

Today he is a relived man as the SC had upheld his argument and declared privacy as fundamental right.

“I have been proven right,” the former judge said from his home in Bengaluru. “If legislation (on privacy) is put forward by the Central government, it will solve 90% of the problems, if not all”.

Born on February 6, 1926, Puttaswamy was educated in Maharaja’s College of Mysore and studied law in Government law college , Bangalore. He started practicing as a lawyer in 1951 and was appointed as a judge in Karnataka high court in 1977.

Shanta Sinha

Magsaysay Award winner child right activist Shanta Singh, who is also former chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), challenged the government’s decision to link Aadhaar number with welfare schemes, saying it violated the right to life of the poor guaranteed under the Constitution.

“It is a historic order and will free the vulnerable from clutches of Aadhaar,” she told HT. “I am hopeful that the court will ensure that the poor are not deprived from their entitlements which is crucial for their survival”.

Sinha, 67, runs a non-government organisation, the MV Foundation and is an academician with the Hyderabad Central University. She was the first chairperson of the NCPCR set up in 2007.

Aruna Roy

Civil servant turned activist Aruna Roy had challenged biometric collection of residents for Aadhaar saying there were no statutory safeguards and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was putting in jeopardy not only rights and life of people but also national security.

She said the scheme violated fundamental rights of the citizens by making Aadhaar mandatory for seeking benefits under welfare schemes such as subsidised ration, pensions, scholarships and maternity benefits.

“I hope the SC order open eyes of the government and they reverse its decision to link Aadhaar with welfare schemes which has led to exclusion of the poor,” she told HT. “We had presented empirical evidence before the court that a large number of deprived have been denied benefits because of faulty Aadhaar scheme”.

Roy, 71, heads Rajasthan-based Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, and was instrumental in framing the Right to Information, National Food Security and National Rural Employment Guarantee laws as member of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council. Chennai born Roy quit Indian Administrative Service in 1974 and started civil rights movement in Rajasthan with her husband Bunker Roy.

Dr Major General Sudhir G Vombatkere

An army man turned activist Vombatkere had questioned Aadhaar saying it gives the government unprecedented powers for surveillance of people through technology without any safeguards for citizens on their personal information. His petition also said linking Aadhaar with Permanent Account Number (PAN) violated article 14 (equality before law) and article 19 (g) (part of fundamental rights giving rights to individuals to practice free trade and profession).

“It is a reason to rejoice for republic of India as privacy is now a fundamental right,” he told HT over phone. “But, it is too early to say whether the ruling will lead to dilution of UIDAI as the petition has to be heard by a three-member bench”.

Vombatkere retired as additional director general, discipline and vigilance in Army headquarters in Delhi, and is adjunct associate professor with the University of Iowa, United States. He was among those who protested against nuclear plant in Kudakoolam in Tamil Nadu.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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