Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017) Judgment | Legal Reasoning for CLAT PDF Download

Background of the Case

The Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017) case, commonly known as the Right to Privacy case, is a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court of India. It arose from a challenge to the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme, which mandated the collection of biometric and demographic data for accessing government services.

• Petitioner: Justice K.S. Puttaswamy, a retired Karnataka High Court judge, along with others, challenged the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.
• Respondent: Union of India, defending the Aadhaar scheme as a tool for efficient welfare delivery and transparency.
• Context: The petitioners argued that the mandatory collection of biometric data (e.g., fingerprints, iris scans) violated the fundamental right to privacy, as it risked misuse, data breaches, and state surveillance.
• Legal Trigger: The case was referred to a nine-judge bench to resolve whether the right to privacy is a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution, especially in light of conflicting earlier judgments (e.g., M.P. Sharma v. Satish Chandra (1954) and Kharak Singh v. State of UP (1962), which suggested privacy was not a fundamental right).

Key Issues

The case addressed critical constitutional questions, with the primary focus on the status of the right to privacy. The key issues were:

• Is the right to privacy a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution?
• If so, under which provisions of the Constitution is it protected (e.g., Article 14, 19, or 21)?
• Can the Aadhaar scheme, involving mandatory biometric data collection, be upheld as constitutional, or does it infringe on the right to privacy?
• Do earlier judgments denying the fundamental right to privacy (e.g., M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh) remain valid?

Judgment

On August 24, 2017, a unanimous nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court delivered a historic judgment, affirming the right to privacy as a fundamental right. Key points of the judgment include:

Right to Privacy as a Fundamental Right

• The Court held that the right to privacy is an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
• It is also protected under Article 14(equality before law) and Article 19 (freedom of speech, expression, and movement), as privacy is essential to individual autonomy and dignity.
• The Court emphasized that privacy encompasses personal choices, bodily integrity, informational privacy, and the right to be left alone.

Overruling of Earlier Judgments

• The Court overruled the observations in M.P. Sharma (1954) and Kharak Singh (1962) to the extent that they denied the existence of a fundamental right to privacy.
• It clarified that these earlier judgments were decided in a different context and did not reflect the evolved understanding of constitutional rights.

Scope and Limitations

• The right to privacy is not absolute and can be restricted by the state, provided the restrictions meet the **three-fold test**:
  1. There must be a law authorizing the restriction.
  2. The restriction must serve a legitimate state aim (e.g., national security, public welfare).
  3. The restriction must be proportionate to the objective and not excessive.
• The Court emphasized the need for safeguards to prevent misuse of personal data, especially in the digital age.

On Aadhaar

• The Court did not rule on the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act in this judgment, as that issue was referred to a smaller bench for adjudication (later decided in **K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2018)**).
• However, it laid the foundation for evaluating Aadhaar’s compliance with the right to privacy, particularly regarding data protection and proportionality.

Significance of the Judgment

The Puttaswamy judgment is a cornerstone of Indian constitutional law, with far-reaching implications for individual rights and state policy. Its significance includes:

• Recognition of Privacy: It formally recognized privacy as a fundamental right, aligning India with global human rights standards (e.g., Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
• Data Protection Framework: The judgment highlighted the need for robust data protection laws, influencing the development of India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act).
• Impact on Aadhaar: It set the stage for the 2018 Aadhaar judgment, where the Supreme Court upheld Aadhaar’s validity but struck down provisions mandating its linkage with private services (e.g., bank accounts, mobile numbers).
• Broader Rights Implications: The recognition of privacy strengthened protections for personal autonomy, impacting cases on issues like decriminalization of homosexuality (Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, 2018) and women’s reproductive rights.
• Check on State Power: The three-fold test ensures that state actions infringing privacy are scrutinized for legality, necessity, and proportionality.