Justice K.S.Puttaswamy(Retd) vs Union Of India on 26 September, 2018
Administrative Law by O. Hood Phillips, 3rd Edn.).
xx xx xx
531. I am unable to subscribe to the view that when right to enforce the right under Article 21 is
suspended, the result would be that there would be no remedy against deprivation of a person's life
or liberty by the State even though such deprivation is without the authority of law or even in
flagrant violation of the provisions of law. The right not to be deprived of one's life or liberty without
the authority of law was not the creation of the Constitution. Such right existed before the
Constitution came into force. The fact that the Framers of the Constitution made an aspect of such
right a part of the fundamental rights did not have the effect of exterminating the independent
identity of such right and of making Article 21 to be the sole repository of that right. Its real effect
was to ensure that a law under which a person can be deprived of his life or personal liberty should
prescribe a procedure for such deprivation or, according to the dictum laid down by Mukherjea, J. in
Gopalan case [A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras, AIR 1950 SC 27 : 1950 SCR 88] , such law should be
a valid law not violative of fundamental rights guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution.
Recognition as fundamental right of one aspect of the pre- constitutional right cannot have the effect
of making things less favourable so far as the sanctity of life and personal liberty is concerned
compared to the position if an aspect of such right had not been recognised as fundamental right
because of the vulnerability of fundamental rights accruing from Article 359. I am also unable to
agree that in view of the Presidential Order in the matter of sanctity of life and liberty, things would
be worse off compared to the state of law as it existed before the coming into force of the
Constitution. (emphasis in original) S.K. Kaul, J.:
574. I have had the benefit of reading the exhaustive and erudite opinions of Rohinton F. Nariman
and Dr D.Y. Chandrachud, JJ. The conclusion is the same, answering the reference that privacy is
not just a common law right, but a fundamental right falling in Part III of the Constitution of India. I
agree with this conclusion as privacy is a primal, natural right which is inherent to an individual.
However, I am tempted to set out my perspective on the issue of privacy as a right, which to my
mind, is an important core of any individual existence.
xx xx xx
620. I had earlier adverted to an aspect of privacy the right to control dissemination of personal
information. The boundaries that people establish from others in society are not only physical but
also informational. There are different kinds of boundaries in respect to different relations. Privacy
assists in preventing awkward social situations and reducing social frictions. Most of the
information about individuals can fall under the phrase none of your business. On information
being shared voluntarily, the same may be said to be in confidence and any breach of confidentiality
is a breach of the trust. This is more so in the professional relationships such as with doctors and
lawyers which requires an element of candour in disclosure of information. An individual has the
right to control one's life while submitting personal data for various facilities and services. It is but
essential that the individual knows as to what the data is being used for with the ability to correct
and amend it. The hallmark of freedom in a democracy is having the autonomy and control over our
Indian Kanoon - http://indiankanoon.org/doc/127517806/
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