OPACITY AS UNCONSTITUTIONALITY: REFRAMING EXPLAINABILITY AS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT IN ALGORITHMIC DECISION-MAKING

Algorithmic systems have become embedded within the architecture of modern governance, increasingly determining access to fundamental rights, entitlements, and opportunities. These systems operate across domains such as welfare distribution, taxation, employment screening, credit scoring, policing, and judicial decision-making. While frequently justified on grounds of efficiency, neutrality, and scalability, they introduce a profound constitutional tension: the replacement of reasoned human adjudication with opaque computational processes. This paper argues that algorithmic opacity constitutes a structural constitutional infirmity when such systems are deployed by the State or its instrumentalities. It contends that explainability is not merely a regulatory safeguard or design principle, but a constitutional necessity grounded in Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution. Through doctrinal analysis, comparative constitutional insights, and administrative law theory, the paper develops a framework in which opacity is understood as incompatible with the rule of law, equality, fairness, and dignity. The paper ultimately proposes the recognition of a fundamental right to algorithmic explainability, requiring that all rights-impacting automated decisions remain intelligible, contestable, and subject to meaningful review.