Supreme Court verdict on right to privacy: All you need to know about the case, arguments and what’s next | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Supreme Court verdict on right to privacy: All you need to know about the case, arguments and what’s next

Agencies, New Delhi | By
Aug 24, 2017 09:12 AM IST

Aadhaar case: The Supreme Court will likely pronounce on Thursday whether right to privacy is a fundamental right.

The Supreme Court will likely pronounce on Thursday whether right to privacy is a fundamental right, with a possible bearing on the challenge to the validity of the government’s Aadhaar scheme.

The Supreme Court is likely to give its verdict on whether the right to privacy is a fundamental right.(Reuters Photo)
The Supreme Court is likely to give its verdict on whether the right to privacy is a fundamental right.(Reuters Photo)

The case

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The Supreme Court is hearing a challenge to the Delhi high court’s September 23, 2016 order by which it allowed WhatsApp to roll out its new privacy policy but stopped it from sharing the data of its users collected up to September 25, 2016, with Facebook or any other related company.

The issue was rooted in a reference by a three-judge bench that was hearing a challenge to the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme on the grounds of its being violative of the fundamental right to privacy.

Initially, on July 7, a three-judge bench said all issues arising out of Aadhaar should finally be decided by a larger bench and the Chief Justice of India would take a call on the need for setting up a constitution bench.

The matter was then mentioned before CJI Khehar who set up a five-judge constitution bench to hear the matter.

However, the five-judge constitution bench on July 18 decided to set up a nine-judge bench to decide whether the right to privacy can be declared a fundamental right under the Constitution.

The hearing in the case had commenced on July 19 and concluded on August 2.

The decision to set up the nine-judge bench was taken to examine the correctness of two apex court judgements delivered in the cases of Kharak Singh and MP Sharma, decided by six and eight judge benches respectively, in which it was held that this right was not a fundamental right.

The bench and the lawyers

Besides Chief Justice of India, JS Khehar, the other judges of the bench are justice J Chelameswar, justice SA Bobde, justice RK Agrawal, justice RF Nariman, justice AM Sapre, justice DY Chandrachud, justice SK Kaul and justice S Abdul Nazeer.

The hearing saw a battery of senior lawyers, including attorney general KK Venugopal, additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta, Arvind Datar, Kapil Sibal, Gopal Subaramaniam, Shyam Divan, Anand Grover, CA Sundaram and Rakesh Dwivedi, advancing arguments either in favour or against the inclusion of right to privacy as a fundamental right.

The arguments

The Centre contended that though after the mid-seventies, several judgments by the benches of strength of two or three judges had held that right to privacy was fundamental but it was the judgment of 1954 and 1962 by the larger benches that holds the ground. The judgments of 1954 and 1962 had held that the right to privacy was not a fundamental right.

The Centre had termed privacy as a “vague and amorphous” right which cannot be granted primacy to deprive poor people of their rights to life, food and shelter.

The hearing saw a partisan divide with the Centre and BJP-ruled Maharashtra and Gujarat contending that right to privacy was not a fundamental right and those ruled by the Congress -- Karnataka, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry and TMC in West Bengal asserting that privacy was a fundamental right.

The Unique Identification Authority of India, too, said privacy was not a fundamental right and there were sufficient safeguards to protect data collected from the people -- their iris scan and finger prints.

The attorney general had contended that right to privacy cannot fall in the bracket of fundamental rights as there were binding decisions of larger benches that it was only a common law right evolved through judicial decisions.

The bench had wanted to know about the tests which could be used to regulate and enforce privacy right when there could be “legitimate or illegitimate” use of data.

Meanwhile, the petitioners had contended that the right to privacy was “inalienable” and “inherent” to the most important fundamental right which is the right to liberty.

They had said that right to liberty, which also included right to privacy, was a pre-existing “natural right” which the Constitution acknowledged and guaranteed to the citizens in case of infringement by the state.

The apex court, during the hearing, favoured overarching guidelines to protect private information in public domain and said there was a need to “maintain the core of privacy” as the notion of privacy was fast becoming irrelevant in an all- pervading technological era.

What next?

After the nine judges bench decides whether right to privacy is a fundamental right or not, then a regular bench will hear the challenge to the validity of the Aadhaar scheme.

Unveiling Elections 2024: The Big Picture', a fresh segment in HT's talk show 'The Interview with Kumkum Chadha', where leaders across the political spectrum discuss the upcoming general elections. Watch now!

Get Current Updates on India News, Election 2024, Arvind Kejriwal Arrest Live Updates, Bihar Board 12th Result Live along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On