PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFO MUST, SAYS SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that there has to be “overarching” guidelines to protect an individual’s private information in public domain to ensure that it was used only for an intended purpose.

A nine-judge Constitution bench, dealing with the contentious issue whether right to privacy was a fundamental right, rejected plea of a Gujarat government lawyer that misuse of personal information could be dealt with on a “case-to-case basis” and said an all-embracing guideline was needed keeping in mind the size of the population.

NEARLY 31 NDA MPs, including 13 BJP members were absent when the House was taking up the Bill.

New Delhi, Aug. 1: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that there has to be “overarching” guidelines to protect an individual’s private information in public domain to ensure that it was used only for an intended purpose.

A nine-judge Constitution bench, dealing with the contentious issue whether right to privacy was a fundamental right, rejected plea of a Gujarat government lawyer that misuse of personal information could be dealt with on a “caseto-case basis” and said an all-embracing guideline was needed keeping in mind the size of the population.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, also referred to the fact that India was a signatory of a 1948 international convention which recognised privacy as a human right.

Referring to arguments put forward by the Maharashtra government on the issue, the court said, “Even if we accept it that the Constituent Assembly dealt with it (privacy issue) and decided against including it as a fundamental right, then how you will deal with the fact that India is a signatory to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights which recognises it.”

The bench, which also comprised justices J. Chelameswar, S.A. Bobde, R.K. Agrawal, R.F. Nariman, A.M. Sapre, D.Y. Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S. Abdul Nazeer, said that there has to be an “overarching” or all-embracing guideline to ensure that the private information of individuals, put in public domain, was used only for an intended purpose.

“If I give personal info like names, parents’ name and telephone numbers for a particular purpose, then a reasonable expectation will be that it is used only for that particular purpose... how we will deal with the violations?” it asked.