Case Comment: K.S. Puttaswamy V. Union Of India
Anuja T Arjun, Bharata Mata School of Legal Studies (BSOLS)
CITATION: AIR 2017 SC 4161 DATE OF JUDGMENT: August 24, 2017
BENCH: Chief Justice, A.K. Sikri, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan
ABSTRACT
The recognition of privacy as a fundamental right by the Supreme Court of India in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India represents a transformative development in Indian constitutional law. The nine-judge Constitution Bench unanimously held that privacy is constitutionally protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as part of the freedoms guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution. The judgment arose against the background of constitutional challenges to the Aadhaar scheme but ultimately addressed the larger question of whether the Constitution protects a right to privacy. This commentary examines the constitutional reasoning adopted by the Court, particularly its connection of privacy with dignity, autonomy, liberty and informational self-determination. It further analyses the Court's recognition that privacy extends beyond physical spaces to bodily, decisional and informational domains. The commentary argues that Puttaswamy is significant not merely because it recognised privacy as a fundamental right, but because it placed individual autonomy at the centre of constitutional governance. At the same time, the judgment's broad conceptualisation of privacy leaves several questions concerning the precise scope of informational privacy and the obligations of non-State actors to subsequent judicial and legislative development.
Keywords: Right to Privacy, K.S. Puttaswamy, Article 21, Constitutional Law, Human Dignity, Informational Privacy, Autonomy, Proportionality.
