Justice K.S.Puttaswamy(Retd) vs Union Of India on 26 September, 2018
including a reference to persons professing the Sikh, Jaina or Buddhist religion, and the reference to
Hindu religious institutions shall be construed accordingly.] the freedom of conscience and right to
freely profess, practice and propagate religion. While the right to freely profess, practice and
propagate religion may be a facet of free speech guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a), the freedom of
the belief or faith in any religion is a matter of conscience falling within the zone of purely private
thought process and is an aspect of liberty. There are areas other than religious beliefs which form
part of the individual's freedom of conscience such as political belief, etc. which form part of the
liberty under Article 21.
373. Concerns of privacy arise when the State seeks to intrude into the body of subjects. [Skinner v.
Oklahoma, 1942 SCC OnLine US SC 125 : 86 L Ed 1655 : 316 US 535 (1942)20. There are limits to
the extent to which a legislatively represented majority may conduct biological experiments at the
expense of the dignity and personality and natural powers of a minorityeven those who have been
guilty of what the majority defines as crimes. (SCC OnLine US SC para 20)Jackson, J.] Corporeal
punishments were not unknown to India, their abolition is of a recent vintage. Forced feeding of
certain persons by the State raises concerns of privacy. An individual's rights to refuse life
prolonging medical treatment or terminate his life is another freedom which falls within the zone of
the right to privacy. I am conscious of the fact that the issue is pending before this Court. But in
various other jurisdictions, there is a huge debate on those issues though it is still a grey area. [ For
the legal debate in this area in US, See Chapter 15.11 of American Constitutional Law by Laurence H.
Tribe, 2nd Edn.] A woman's freedom of choice whether to bear a child or abort her pregnancy are
areas which fall in the realm of privacy. Similarly, the freedom to choose either to work or not and
the freedom to choose the nature of the work are areas of private decision-making process. The right
to travel freely within the country or go abroad is an area falling within the right to privacy. The text
of our Constitution recognised the freedom to travel throughout the country under Article 19(1)(d).
This Court has already recognised that such a right takes within its sweep the right to travel abroad.
[Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, (1978) 1 SCC 248] A person's freedom to choose the place of his
residence once again is a part of his right to privacy [Williams v. Fears, 1900 SCC OnLine US SC 211
: 45 L Ed 186 : 179 US 270 (1900)8. Undoubtedly the right of locomotion, the right to remove from
one place to another according to inclination, is an attribute of personal liberty. (SCC OnLine US SC
para 8)] recognised by the Constitution of India under Article 19(1)(e) though the predominant
purpose of enumerating the abovementioned two freedoms in Article 19(1) is to disable both the
federal and State Governments from creating barriers which are incompatible with the federal
nature of our country and its Constitution. The choice of appearance and apparel are also aspects of
the right to privacy. The freedom of certain groups of subjects to determine their appearance and
apparel (such as keeping long hair and wearing a turban) are protected not as a part of the right to
privacy but as a part of their religious belief. Such a freedom need not necessarily be based on
religious beliefs falling under Article 25. Informational traces are also an area which is the
subject-matter of huge debate in various jurisdictions falling within the realm of the right to privacy,
such data is as personal as that of the choice of appearance and apparel. Telephone tappings and
internet hacking by State, of personal data is another area which falls within the realm of privacy.
The instant reference arises out of such an attempt by the Union of India to collect biometric data
regarding all the residents of this country. The abovementioned are some of the areas where some
interest of privacy exists. The examples given above indicate to some extent the nature and scope of
Indian Kanoon - http://indiankanoon.org/doc/127517806/
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