Is privacy a fundamental right? SC to say today

NEW DELHI:

A nine-judge bench of Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar will on Thursday decide if privacy is a fundamental right, a judgment that will have a bearing on civil rights as well as Aadhaar.

The privacy verdict will come two days after the apex court, in a landmark judgment, struck down the Islamic divorce practice of instant triple talaq as “unconstitutional”.

The other members of the bench, which will assemble at 10.30am, are justices J Chelameswar, SA Bobde, AM Sapre, RF Nariman, DY Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer.

The CJI, who retires on August 27, and Justice Nazeer both dissented, and justice Nariman were among the five judges who also heard petitions against triple talaq. Privacy is central to the legal challenges facing Aadhaar, the 12-digit biometric unique identity number, which has raised data breach and privacy concerns. Critics also say it helps the government spy on people.

The government is pushing for Aadhaar to plug leaks in various welfare schemes. Aadhaar is mandatory for availing welfare benefits, filing income-tax returns, and opening bank accounts. Petitioners have argued Aadhaar violates privacy because it requires finger printing and iris scans. Before taking up Aadhaar petitions, the court said, it first needed to decide if privacy was a fundamental right. The government says citizens have a right to privacy but it is not an absolute right. The Constitution framers included all rights but consciously kept out the right to privacy.