right to privacy

In K.S. Puttaswamy (2017) a nine-judge bench held unanimously that privacy is a fundamental right, intrinsic to life and liberty under Article 21 and part of the freedoms in Part III. It overruled M.P. Sharma (1954) and Kharak Singh (1962) to the extent they held otherwise. Privacy covers bodily integrity, personal information (informational privacy) and decisional autonomy, such as choices about marriage, sexuality and reproduction.

Privacy is not absolute. A restriction must satisfy a three-part test: legality (a law exists), a legitimate State aim, and proportionality between the measure and the aim. Later cases have applied it to Aadhaar (2018), the decriminalisation of consensual same-sex relations (Navtej Johar, 2018) and adultery (Joseph Shine, 2018). The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 gives statutory protection to digital personal data.

Example

Tapping the petitioner's phone without any authorising law fails the first limb (legality) of the Puttaswamy test for the right to privacy.

In Indian law

• Article 21, Constitution of India
• Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, 2017 INSC 801
• Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023

See also

right to life and personal liberty · proportionality · fundamental rights

Read more in the study notes

• Rule of law and droit administratif (Administrative Law)
• Promissory estoppel, legitimate expectation and proportionality (Administrative Law)
• Juvenile Justice Act, 2015: salient features and the Juvenile Justice Board (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita)
• Criminal force and assault against women (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
• Burden of proof: exceptions, special knowledge and statutory shifts (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)
• Technological environment and its impact on business decisions (Business Environment)