Right to privacy is an intrinsic part of the right to life. (UPSC CSE Mains 2017 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 1)
The Constitution of India does not specifically guarantee a right to privacy. However, through various judgements over the years the Courts of the country have interpreted the other rights in the Constitution to be giving rise to a (limited) right to privacy – primarily through Article 21 – the right to life and liberty. In 2015, this interpretation was challenged and referred to a larger Bench of the Supreme Court in the writ petition of Justice K.S Puttaswamy case.
Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v Union of India, 2017 remains to be a landmark judgement regarding this issue since it affirmed the constitutional right to privacy. It declared privacy as an integral component of Part III (Fundamental Rights) of the Constitution of India.
Privacy is an inalienable right inhering in the very personality of human beings and privacy includes the right to be left alone, freedom of thought, freedom to dissent, bodily integrity, informational self- determination.
The following conclusions were made in J. Puttaswamy’s judgment
- The right of privacy is a fundamental right.
- It is a right which protects the inner sphere of the individual from interference from both state and non-state actors and allows the individuals to make autonomous life choices.
- Right to privacy cannot be denied even if there is a miniscule fraction of the population which is affected. As only a miniscule fraction of the country’s population constitutes lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgenders and thus, there cannot be any basis for declaring Section 377 of IPC as ultra vires Article 14, 15 and 21.
- The bench affirms the LGBT rights and disagrees with the decision given in Suresh Koushal v. Naz Foundation.
- Privacy includes at its core the preservation of personal intimacies, the sanctity of family life, marriage, procreation, the home and sexual orientation. Personal choices governing a way of life are intrinsic to privacy. Privacy protects heterogeneity and recognises the plurality and diversity of our culture.
Right to privacy was rightly included as part of right to life because without privacy one cannot enjoy one’s life at the fullest. That too living in this digital era makes privacy a huge question, therefore due to change in nature of the society we live in, it demands a natural right to privacy.
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