Justice Puttaswamy Judgement, Right to Privacy Judgement

Context

Former Karnataka High Court judge Justice K S Puttaswamy, who played a pivotal role in declaration of right to privacy as a fundamental right from the Supreme Court in 2017, passed away recently.

About Right to Privacy

• The Supreme Court’s 9 Judge Bench unanimously recognized the right to privacy as a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Indian Constitution.
• The Court overruled previous judgments (notably M.P. Sharma v. Satish Chandra and Kharak Singh v. State of U.P.) that had denied privacy as a fundamental right.
• The ruling emphasised that privacy is an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21.
• The Court established that any infringement on the right to privacy must meet a three-pronged test:
  • legality (existence of law), necessity (legitimate state aim) and proportionality (rational connection between means and objectives).
• This judgement paved the way for eventual decriminalisation of homosexuality in India in Navtej Singh Johar vs Union of India (2018) and abolishment of provisions related to adultery in Joseph Shine vs Union of India.
• The Judgment also recognised the Right to be forgotten as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Indian constitution.
  • It refers to the right to have private information about a person be removed from Internet searches and other directories under some circumstances.

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