Putting an end to a five-year-long debate, the top court of India has decided that right to privacy comes under fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of India. The nine-bench Constitution bench unanimously declared that privacy is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 and Part 3 of the Constitution of India.
Pronouncing the landmark judgment, Chief Justice J S Khehar said that "all judgments that proceeded on the basis that privacy is a Fundamental Right are correct. Privacy is a guaranteed Fundamental Right."
The Constitution bench consisted of Chief Justice Khehar, Justices Jasti Chelameswar, SA Bobde, RK Agarwal, RF Nariman, AM Sapre, DY Chandrachud, SK Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer.
The clamour against Aadhaar had become too loud for the Supreme Court to ignore and hence measures were taken up to put the matter to rest. One of the most important petitions to be entertained by the court was the one filed by Shanta Sinha and one Kalyani Sen Menon. In May, the controversial Aadhaar Act had been challenged along with various notifications issued by the Central government making Aadhaar mandatory for 17 different social service schemes.They said that the government has resorted to coercive measures in an attempt to compel the citizens to enroll for Aadhaar and the impugned Act also coerces an individual to part with their personal information.