Dealing a huge blow to the government\u2019s insistence over attaching Aadhaar numbers to all and sundry services, the Supreme Court\u2019s nine-judge bench\u00a0on Thursday\u00a0(August 24) ruled that the right to privacy is, after all, a fundamental right.<\/p>\n
This was probably one of the biggest decisions by the court that will now need constitutional authorisation that Parliament has to assure.<\/p>\n
At around\u00a010.40 am, the Chief Justice of India, JS Khehar, addressed the assembled legal luminaries present in court and said: \u201cWe are all extremely grateful to all of you for addressing us, for the kind of research you all have done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he said: \u201cDecision in MP Sharma stands overruled.\u00a0Khatam Singh is overruled.\u00a0Right to privacy is an integral part of Articles 14 and 19. Right to privacy is fundamental right. That is the final order.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike the Triple Talaq issue,\u00a0there was no ambiguity in the order, or any dissention. All the nine judges \u2013 CJI Khehar, and Justices J Chelameswar, SA Bobde, RK Agrawal, Rohinton Fali Nariman, Abhay Manohar Sapre, DY Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer \u2013 were unanimous in declaring privacy as a fundamental right.<\/p>\n