Right to Privacy: Much Awaited Refresh

Reminding the state about its duty to protect its citizens from all kind of intrusions into their privacy, a nine-member constitution bench of the highest court of India –the Supreme Court- has declared the ‘Right to Privacy’ as an integral part of the Constitution. Apart from the Aadhaar card issue, the verdict is likely to help the concerned to draw a conclusion on various issues such as the euthanasia, reproductive choice, choice of food, religious and political faith and much more. Denoting the euthanasia, reproductive choice, choice of food and religious and political faith as the personal matters, Justice Chelameswar, in his separate judgment on the Right to Privacy, has asserted that no person has the right to intrude into the personal matters of the citizens. It seems that in the near future there will be more discussions on the aforementioned issues which deserve an urgent resolution. Importantly, the Right to Privacy has obviously eliminated the draconian section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalizes the consensual sexual activity of adults in private. In general, with the pronouncement of the historic judgment, the Indian society has been gifted a kind of energy it needs to eliminate the feeling that its right to privacy is being compromised for the sake of those who rule the nation. But, the questions are: why can’t we declare the privacy as the absolute right; can the governments perfectly pay complete justice to the court’s directive that the authorities can impose reasonable restrictions.

Vignesh

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