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First Define ‘Privacy’
The problem with the nine-judge ruling is that after proclaiming privacy as a fundamental right, it has not defined what privacy is. It is now left to all adjudicators to give multiple interpretations in order to understand the term.
This article was earlier published in the Web Exclusives section on the EPW website.
The judgment1 of the nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court on privacy has been hailed with much enthusiasm. The right to privacy question was referred to this bench after a clutch of petitions challenging the Aadhaar Act came up before a five-judge bench. This article is an attempt to look at the consequences of the privacy ruling.
All laws and institutions in India are expected to be guided by the Constitution. To ensure that the Constitution can take changing circumstances into account, Parliament has been given the authority to amend it in Article 368. The Constituent Assembly in its initial drafts had considered making the right to privacy a fundamental right. However, after extensive discussion, a conscious decision was taken not to do so.
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