THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY AS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF K.S. PUTTASWAMY V. UNION OF INDIA (2017)

The Constitution of India has been debated for a long time regarding the right to privacy. The Constitution does not mention the word "privacy." For 70 years, the Supreme Court did not clearly state that it was a right protected under the Constitution. This was amended on August 24, 2017. A nine-judge bench in the case of Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India unanimously held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right. It is protected as part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21. It is also part of the freedoms guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution. What makes the Puttaswamy judgment a landmark is not just the outcome but how it was reached. To make this decision, the Court had to re-examine two of its judgments. These earlier judgments had raised doubts about the existence of a right to privacy. This commentary examines the judgment on its own terms. It examines the reference that led to the judgment. It analyses the reasoning behind the six opinions. It discusses the newly introduced proportionality standard. Then it critically evaluates what the judgment left unsettled. It argues that the promise of the judgment has been only partially fulfilled in recent years.