Indian Supreme Court In Landmark Ruling On Privacy
India’s Supreme Court has ruled that citizens have a fundamental right to privacy, in a landmark judgement.
The judges ruled the right to privacy was “an intrinsic part of Article 21 that protects life and liberty”. The ruling has implications for the government’s vast biometric ID scheme, covering access to benefits, bank accounts and payment of taxes.
Rights groups are concerned personal data could be misused. The authorities want registration to be compulsory.
The verdict overturns two previous rulings by the top court which said that privacy was not a fundamental right.
The nine-judge bench, comprising all the sitting judges in the Supreme Court was necessary because one of the earlier rulings made in 1954, was delivered by an eight-judge bench. Speaking to reporters outside court, lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who represented the petitioners, described the ruling as “historic”. He said that a smaller bench would now look into the validity of the Aadhaar scheme. The ruling is expected to have implications for the scheme.
Aadhaar, which means foundation, started out as a voluntary programme to help tackle benefit fraud.
But recently it has been made mandatory for access to welfare schemes. It is the largest biometric identity scheme in the world.