High Court overrules all other judgments made by lower courts on right to privacy

  NEW DELHI – India's Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Thursday that the right of privacy of all Indians is a fundamental right because it is an inherent to the right to life and personal liberty provided by the country's Constitution. The High Court's nine member-judges ruled: "Right to privacy is an integral part of the Right to Life and Personal Liberty guaranteed in Article 21 of the Constitution." The judges added that the right to privacy is essential to the fundamental rights chapter of the country's Charter. The SC's ruling covers India's 1.34 billion citizens. The Times of India (TOI) said the Supreme Court's judgement is a blow to the issuance of Aadhaar ID cards issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UDAI) of the Planning Commission. The Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique ID number issued by the Indian government to each citizen. The issuing centre now has to convince the High Tribunal that the requirement for citizens to give their fingerprints and undergo iris scan does not violate one's privacy. The SC's verdict also overrules previous judgements by lower courts in India that the right to privacy is not a fundamental rights. The SC ruling however did not directly refer to the Aadhaar but it has paved the way for debates on the Aadhaar system. Opponents of the government's biometric ID program led by retired SC judge HC judge K S Puttaswamy had said that the fingerprint and iris scan requirements impinges on an person's privacy right but government lawyers argued that the Constitution does not recognize such right. Among the petitioners against the biometric ID system are Shanta Sinha, first chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and a Ramon Magsaysay awardee, feminist researcher Kalyani Sen Menon, and others. The petitioners pointed out that the right to privacy was "inalienable" and "inherent" to the most important fundamental right, which is the right to liberty, adding that the right to liberty also included the right to privacy, which is a pre-existing "natural right" that the Constitution guaranteed to citizens in case of infringement by the state. Following the High Tribunal's decision, Attorney General K K Venugopal, who had argued before the court in favor of the Aadhaar ID system told TOI: "Whatever the 9-judge bench says is the correct law." Nikhil Pahwa, the co-founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation, and also the founder of the technology site Medianama, told CNN: "This is not just a legal victory. It is a moral victory." GAC/Expat 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