Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India Puttaswamy (Privacy case)
(2017) 10 SCC 1; AIR 2017 SC 4161 · Supreme Court of India · 2017
PrincipleThe right to privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21.
Facts
In the challenge to the Aadhaar scheme the government argued, relying on M.P. Sharma (1954) and Kharak Singh (1962), that there is no fundamental right to privacy. The question was referred to a nine-judge bench.
Held
The bench unanimously held that the right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as part of the freedoms in Part III. M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh were overruled to that extent, and ADM Jabalpur was expressly overruled. Any restriction on privacy must satisfy legality, a legitimate aim and proportionality.
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