Is right to privacy a fundamental right? 9-Judge Supreme Court bench will decide

The Apex Court will today decide whether right to privacy is a part of fundamental right as guaranteed by the Constitution of India. The will be a landmark verdict as it will determine the width of privacy citizens can enjoy as well as the right of the state to restrict it.

There are around 20 petitions pending before the Supreme Court challenging the validity of Aadhaar.

The five judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Justice JS Khehar, which held that to decide whether the Aadhaar Act violates the right of privacy, the court will have to first decide if right to privacy constitutes fundamental right under the Constitution. Previously, in the matter of M.P Sharma in 1954 and Kharak Singh's case in 1962 has held that right to privacy is not a fundamental right. Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing on behalf of the centre asserted that “ our founding fathers have encompassed all rights but consciously right to privacy is removed.”

The government is pushing people for Aadhaar as it believes it is necessary to plug leakages in subsidy schemes and to ensure other benefits. However, this violates privacy as there are chances of data breaches and can assist the government in spying on people.

The crucial point here is that even if the court holds that Aadhaar violates right to privacy, the damage is already with the majority of the population already enrolled, their information is already held in insecure databases and linked to public and private services.