The Judgement which set the Privacy Wheels rolling - India Supreme Court unanimously recognized privacy as a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution

 

On August 24th 2017, the Supreme Court unanimously recognised privacy as a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution:

Majority Opinion authored by Justice Chandrachud on behalf of Chief Justice Khehar and Justices Agrawal, Nazeer and himself.

Concurring Opinion authored by Justice Chelameswar.

Concurring Opinion authored by Justice Bobde.

Concurring Opinion authored by Justice Nariman.

Concurring Opinion authored by Justice Kaul.

Concurring Opinion authored by Justice Sapre.

In 2012, Justice K S Puttaswamy, a retired judge of the High Court, filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme introduced by the UPA Government.

On August 11th 2015, a Bench of three judges comprising Justices Chelameswar, Bobde, and C. Nagappan passed an order that a Bench of appropriate strength must examine the correctness of the decisions in M P Sharma v Satish Chandra, District Magistrate, Delhi, 1954 (Eight Judge Bench) and Kharak Singh v State of Uttar Pradesh, 1964 (Six Judge Bench). In particular it ordered that the Court must decide whether we have a fundamental right to privacy.

This matter was first placed before a Five Judge Bench headed by the then Chief Justice Khehar. Subsequently, the matter was referred to a Nine Judge Bench on July 18th 2017. The Bench comprised Chief Justice Khehar and Justices Jasti Chelameshwar, S.A. Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Abdul Nazeer, Nariman, R.K. Agarwal, Abhay Manohar Sapre, and Sanjay Kishan Kaul. Arguments began on July 19th 2017 and concluded on August 2nd 2017.

In a historic decision delivered on August 24th 2017, the Bench unanimously recognised a fundamental right to privacy of every individual guaranteed by the Constitution, within Article 21 in particular and Part III on the whole. The decisions in M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh were overruled.

Since the 2017 judgment, the fundamental right to privacy has been cited as precedent in various landmark judgments, such as the Navtej Johar and Joseph Shine judgments

The actual judgment makes for an interesting read 

https://github.com/kantakgoa/dpdpa/blob/main/35071_2012_Judgement_24-Aug-2017.pdf

https://main.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2012/35071/35071_2012_Judgement_24-Aug-2017.pdf