Right to privacy case: All you need to know

IS PRIVACY AN INTEGRAL RIGHT OR A VAGUE NOTION?
The nine-judge Constitution bench's decision will impact everyday lives. It will define the relationship between government and the citizen and will shape the fundamental rights are understood for decades to come.
* The bench will decide whether a fundamental right to privacy exists under the Indian Constitution.
* This bench will not decide the fate of Aadhaar, only the nature and status of the right to privacy under the constitution.
* The petitioners want Supreme Court to recognize, among other things, a

fundamental right

to privacy under the Constitution.

WHAT PETITIONERS SAY
PRECEDENTS
* And eight-judge bench ruled in the MP Sharma case (1954) there was no right to privacy under a specific Article, but it did not extinguish a general fundamental right to privacy.
* A six-judge bench in Kharak Singh case (1962) that right to privacy is not fundamental, no longer good law.
* In an unbroken chain of judgments, starting from Gobind vs State of Madhya Pradesh and leading up to National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) vs Union of India (on the rights of transgender persons), the Supreme Court has recognised the fundamental right to privacy.
* Privacy is associated with and is the bulwark of other rights. It is located in the golden trinity of Articles 14,19, and 21 (right to liberty and equality).
* There can be no dignity without privacy, and dignity is part of the Preamble, part of the basic structure of the Constitution.

WHAT RESPONDENTS SAY
* Cite Kharak Singh and MP Sharma to argue right to privacy is not fundamental.
* Privacy is a vague concept, and vague concepts cannot be made fundamental rights.
* Framers of Constitution debated but discarded privacy as fundamental right.
* Right to life of others, including right to food, is more important than right to privacy.
* Internationally, in most jurisdictions, right to privacy has not been recognized explicitly.

THE PETITIONERS
Former Karnataka HC judge,

KS Puttaswamy

, now 91, filed the PIL in 2012 challenging the Aadhaar scheme, saying it violates fundamental rights to privacy and equality. SC has linked all the 20+ Aadhaar cases to this main case. Petitioners include activists Bezwada Wilson, Aruna Roy and

Nikhil Dey

. For

Puttaswamy

, this was reportedly the first time he felt need to petition the courts in any matter.

THE BENCH
The high profile bench that will decide the question of privacy. Here are the judges:
1. JS

Khehar

2. J Chlameswar
3. SA Bobde
4. RK Agarwal
5. RF Nariman
6. AM Sapre
7. DY Chandrachud
8.

SK Kaul

9. S Abdul Nazeer

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THE VERDICT
In a landmark decision that will affect the lives of all Indians, the Supreme Court unanimously declared that right to privacy was a Fundamental right under the Constitution. A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar ruled that "right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution".

Read this story in Kannada

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