Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Privacy is a Fundamental Right' that was published in Newsband

Privacy is a Fundamental Right

Privacy is a fundamental right that requires constitutional protection. This is the verdict pronounced by nine judges of the Supreme Court. “The right to be left alone” is an inalienable part of being human. This verdict was given in the course of the hearings on the validity of its Aadhaar-based unique identity scheme.  

Sexual orientation is part of privacy and constitutionally protected. Somehow, privacy as a value finds itself at loggerheads with notions of national security, the needs of a knowledge society and even socio-economic policy.

In view of a belligerent neighbour who, to divert the world away from its inherent political instability and economic dependency, constantly engages in cross border terrorism and infiltration and in view of a sizable minority population, the majority of whom out of illiteracy and religion based attractions and compulsions may be supporting such foreign elements, aadhar is a must for national security. Any government which is in power owes that much to the majority of this nation.

With this landmark judgment about the right to privacy the Supreme Court has once again preserved the rights of the people and restored their belief that in our constitution there are provisions which will definitely put restrictions on state in its endeavour to become totalitarian. The right to be left alone must not be abridged as it is essential for the dignity of an individual. If government wants to act against corruption, they should do this without compromising the rights of an individual. For catching a criminal the whole population cannot be subjected to surveillance.

The SC has reiterated that the basic rights of citizens cannot be taken away by rulers at any cost. This verdict is historic because it will put a full stop towards fascist tendencies of the Government and protect the citizens from possible surveillance to kitchen to bed room in the name of security and allow right to live with dignity.

The most important thing is that the Courts have shown that for a democracy to function there should be a balance of power. The judges may not be chosen by the society at large; but they act as watch dogs over the administration. By giving a unanimous verdict on such an important issue the courts have demonstrated that they are not His Master's Voice. Augurs well for democracy in India.

The SC has put to rest all debate over privacy thro' its unanimous verdict which comes as a sigh of relief for crores of common citizens. The recent verdict is politically relevant in Indian context. It is against the totalitarian trends of the state. According to the preamble of the Indian Constitution, it is explicit that it says 'Constitution is given by the people'. The political essence of the state is that state is not the master of the people but only servant. The verdict is apropos of the debate triggered by the issuance of Aadhar, which denies the privacy of the people,

Thus "Right of privacy" has been approved. It is the historical decision of SC. Now, we have got the complete freedom after the 71^st year of independence. But, making provision is not sufficient. The meaning of this unanimous decision is that Government should make a grip to put the date safely.

The stand of the government reducing right to privacy as one falling into the category of elitist concepts and an amorphous and indefinable one, has shown its august wisdom in making clear that like other fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, right to privacy is also subject to reasonable restrictions. The ruling will pave way for equitable relationship between the state and the citizens.