ANALYSING

RIGHT TO SALIL KUMAR

PRIVACY AND TRIPATHY

(USLLS, GGSIPU)

ITS VIABILITY
IN EXECUTION
 1 2 3 4 5

Questions of Centre’s Judges’ Take Centre’s stand on What should the

Discussion Argument Aadhar Linkage government do?

Agenda
Questions of  There are 2 basic questions upon which the Privacy
debate evolves-
Discussion
 At loggerheads with notions of national security,

 Socio-economic policy
  The fact that a right
may have been
afforded protection at
common law does not
require the
constitutional
recognition of the
right.
Centre’s  Hence, privacy need
Arguments not be made a
constitutional right and
can be protected
through parliamentary
statutes.

 Privacy is an “elitist
construct”

1 2
Justice J. Chelameswar:
Fundamental rights-
constitutional firewall - prevent
State’s interference. RTP- core
freedoms -part of liberty-
expression in Article 21.
Judges’ Take
Justice S.A. Bobde: Natural
home for a rop is in Article 21-
heart of ‘personal liberty’-life
itself. innumerable activities-
virtually incapable - dignity
unless an ind-left alone. Birth
and death –privacy- dignity
amongst all civilized people.
3
Justice Rohinton F. Nariman -
privacy as an elitist construct:
Poor people that the Centre
mentions changed world have
cell phones -press the fr of
privacy, both against the
Government and against other
private ind. No antipathy b/t the
rich and the poor.
 Justice A.M. Sapre: Right to privacy is a part of
fundamental right of a citizen guaranteed
under Part III of the Constitution. However, it is
not an absolute right but subject to certain
reasonable restrictions.

Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul: Privacy is nothing

but a form of dignity, which itself is a subset of
liberty. Thus, from the one great tree, there are
branches, and from these branches there are
Cont. sub-branches and leaves. Every one of these
leaves are rights, all tracing back to the tree of
justice.

Nine judges bench declares right to privacy as

inherent part of fundamental rights
  Strongly backing the
Aadhaar scheme, the
Centre submitted that
the right to life of
millions of poor in the
country through food,
shelter and welfare
measures was far more
important than privacy
concerns raised by the

Centre’s stand elite class.

 Controversially, Attorney
on Aadhar General K K Venugopal
arguing for the Centre
Linkage also stated that privacy
claims required better
priority in developed
countries “not in a
country like India where
a vast majority of citizens
don’t have access to
basic needs”.
 Cont

The government was

categorical that after
He said the right to
enrolling nearly 100 crore
privacy cannot be invoked
citizens spending an
to scrap the Aadhaar
astronomical amount of Rs
scheme.
6,300 crore there was no
going back.
 Instead of arguing, It should assure the
privacy is not a FR, it citizens of India that it
should assure the court will do everything
that it has the technology possible to prevent
and systems to protect unauthorized disclosure
the data collected. of or access to such data.

What should the government do?

 Cont.

It should recognize all

dimensions of the right to
privacy and address The data controller should be
concerns about data safety, made accountable for the
protection from unauthorized collection, processing and
interception, surveillance, use to which data are put.
use of personal identifiers
and bodily privacy.
THANK YOU