Invading privacy is unjust and illegal

Hardik Patel’s personal life cannot be fodder for political gain

For politicians, elections bring many challenges. Not only do they have to convince an increasingly difficultto-please electorate about the merit of their candidacy, but also they must keep a sharp eye on what the dirty tricks department of opposing parties can do to upset their plans or malign them. On Monday, Hardik Patel found himself at the receiving end when TV channels showed a man who looked like Patel with a woman in an alleged “sex video”. While his supporters claimed the video is morphed, Mr Patel said he expected such dirty tricks to surface before the elections. Three more clips emerged on Tuesday, showing him with a woman in a room. It is not a crime for two adults to be in a room. Moreover, there was no evidence of anything illegal happening. Mr Patel is a key player but is not contesting the Gujarat assembly polls.

This case again brings to the forefront the issue of privacy and how its limits are breached so frequently in India. While the ruling party, the BJP, has been quiet on the tapes, some of their supporters want the videos released. This demand is odd because when a similar incident happened recently in Chhattisgarh — a journalist was in possession of a video involving a BJP leader — he was accused of extortion and blackmail. When people protested against the arrest, the police said the confiscated CDs could malign the reputation of a person and hence the arrest was made immediately. The same logic should be applied in Patel’s case too, and those circulating a video must be arrested . This is a private matter and it should be left at that.

It is this August that Supreme Court ruled that privacy is a fundamental right and linked it with dignity and preservation of personal intimacies. It said that invasion of privacy will have to be justified against the standard of a “fair, just and reasonable” procedure. By this standard, invading Patel’s privacy and circulating the videos are not just morally unjust but also illegal.