From Puttaswamy To DPDP 2023: Continuity And Contradictions In India’s Privacy Jurisprudence
- IJLLR Journal
- Oct 25
- 2 min read
Tamanna, LL.M., University Institute of Legal Studies, Chandigarh University
ABSTRACT
‘K.S. Puttaswamy’ where the Court held that privacy is a fundamental right. Union of India (2017) brought a statutory data protection regime in the country. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) is formalization of this transformation as it converts the concept of privacy from being a vague constitutional principle to being a codified compendium of rights, duties and sanctions. This investigation traces the doctrinal development of the concept of privacy from the tentative judicial references in early cases, to the landmark Puttaswamy judgments to post 2017 jurisprudence that brings into the foreground of the right to privacy the principles of proportionality, necessity, and purpose limitation. It then examines the approach of the DPDP Act in operationalising these principles through its role-based definitions, the requirements of consent and notice, the rights of Data Principals and the creation of the Data Protection Board of India.
In addition, privacy has a direct relationship to criminal procedure and evidence. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) has the power to call for the discovery of digital evidence and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) lays down conditions pertaining to the admissibility and authenticity of electronic records. Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) penalises the violation of privacy such as voyeurism, stalking and impersonation. These statutes collectively illustrate both compatibilities and conflicts in the right to erasure could contradict with mandatory evidence preservation as well as in proportionality assessments being required to govern powers of investigatory action.
By way of a doctrinal analysis of the DPDP Act and its interrelation in BNSS, BSA, and BNS, this study attempts to show that Privacy in India has become a multi-layered concept - constitutional in genesis, statutory in structure, and procedural in application. It claims that the key challenge is to balance the character of those regimes to protect dignity and autonomy on the one hand, and allow for legitimate governance, investigative and accountability functions in the digital age on the other.
Keywords: Data Principal, Data Fiduciary, Significant Data Fiduciary, BNSS, BSA, DPDP Act, 2023
