Does a citizen have a right to keep parts of life private, even from the State? For decades the answer was unclear. A nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court settled it in 2017.
The dispute
Justice K.S. Puttaswamy, a retired High Court judge, challenged the Aadhaar scheme. The Union argued that the Constitution has no fundamental right to privacy. It relied on two older decisions, M.P. Sharma (1954) and Kharak Singh (1962). Because those were decisions of larger Benches, the question went to nine judges.
What the Court decided
The Bench decided unanimously on 24 August 2017. It held the following.
- Privacy is a fundamental right. It is part of life and personal liberty under Article 21, and of the freedoms in Part III.
- It has several facets. These include bodily integrity, choices about one’s own life, and control over personal information.
- The State can limit it only within bounds. A restriction needs a law, a legitimate aim, and a proportionate link between the aim and the means.
- Older decisions gave way. M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh were overruled to the extent that they were inconsistent.
The Court also noted that a law on data protection was needed. In 2018 a five-judge Bench upheld Aadhaar with limits and struck down parts of it.
Why it matters to you
- Your phone records, health details and location are protected by a constitutional right, not only by contract.
- Government schemes that collect your data must rest on a law and meet the proportionality test.
- The judgment is the base for India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Read our explainer on the DPDP Act.
How the Court reasoned
The judges said privacy is bound up with human dignity. They held that a person’s control over personal information is part of that dignity. They also noted that data is now collected at a scale that was not possible in 1954 or 1962. The right, they said, must be read in step with that change.
What to do with this ruling
- Ask what data a scheme or service collects, and on what legal basis.
- Read privacy notices. Use your rights of access, correction and erasure under the DPDP Act.
- If a public body asks for more data than it needs, you can question it, and a court can test the demand.
Limits to keep in mind
The right is not absolute. The DPDP Act also gives the State wide exemptions in some situations, and courts will test them against this judgment.
Key takeaway
Privacy in India is a constitutional right. Any collection of your personal data by the State must have a law behind it and must be proportionate.