Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v Union of India, known as the Right to Privacy case, was a 2017 decision in which a nine judge bench of the Supreme Court of India unanimously held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right protected under the Constitution's guarantees of life, personal liberty and other fundamental freedoms, overruling earlier decisions that had denied privacy that status. The case arose from a constitutional challenge to the Aadhaar biometric identity scheme. The judgment also expressly overruled the reasoning of the Emergency era Habeas Corpus case, ADM Jabalpur v Shivakant Shukla, and it went on to underpin the Supreme Court's 2018 decision decriminalizing consensual same sex relations in Navtej Singh Johar v Union of India.
Facts
Decision Year Decision Date HoldingA nine judge bench held unanimously that the right to privacy is protected as a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution, subject to being limited only by a law meeting tests of legality, necessity and proportionality. 1 Current StatusExplicitly overruled the Court's earlier decisions in M.P. Sharma v Satish Chandra and Kharak Singh v State of Uttar Pradesh, and overruled on doctrinal grounds the reasoning in ADM Jabalpur v Shivakant Shukla concerning suspension of fundamental rights during an Emergency. 1 Case Status
Case Status (category)Overruled (in whole or part) 1 FAQs
What did the Puttaswamy judgment decide about privacy in India?
Privacy is a fundamental right, limitable only by a law meeting legality, necessity and proportionality.
A nine judge bench of the Supreme Court of India unanimously held in 2017 that the right to privacy is a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution, subject to being limited only by a law meeting tests of legality, necessity and proportionality. It overruled earlier decisions that had denied privacy that status.
Did Puttaswamy overrule ADM Jabalpur?
Yes, it expressly overruled the reasoning of ADM Jabalpur.
Yes. The judgment expressly overruled the reasoning of the Emergency era Habeas Corpus case, ADM Jabalpur v Shivakant Shukla. It arose from a challenge to the Aadhaar biometric identity scheme and went on to underpin the 2018 decision in Navtej Singh Johar v Union of India decriminalizing consensual same sex relations.
Connections
Associated With
India's data protection statute followed the 2017 Puttaswamy judgment recognising privacy as a fundamental right.
Authored By
Widely cited lead opinion among the six concurring judgments recognizing privacy as a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution.
Decided By
Decided by the Supreme Court of India, 2017.
In Legal System
A ruling of the Indian Supreme Court under the Indian Constitution.
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIntroductory section, verdict date sentence (year)
On 24 August 2017, the Supreme Court of India gave the Right to Privacy verdict.
Introductory section, verdict date sentence (full date)
On 24 August 2017, the Supreme Court of India gave the Right to Privacy verdict.
Holding section, fundamental right statement
the right to privacy is protected as a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
Significance section, overruling statement
It explicitly overrules previous judgements of the Supreme Court in Kharak Singh vs. State of UP and M.P. Sharma vs. Union of India
In Group: Privacy, Reproduction and Personal Autonomy Cases, Introduction, sentence 1
Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) & Anr. vs. Union of India & Ors. (2017), commonly known as the Right to Privacy verdict, was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of India, which held that the right to privacy is protected as a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
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