STATE SURVEILLANCE IN INDIA: A CONSTITUTIONAL TEST OF PRIVACY, POWER, AND PROPORTIONALITY

Privacy is one of the most highly discussed constitutional issue in the country in the electronic era. Nowadays governments have advanced technologies they have never had before that enables them to monitor everything, from telephony and social media to internet usage, even movement and biometrics. India has been challenged by the increasing surveillance technology under the guise of maintaining public order and security, with serious legal concerns regarding the limits of state authority and individual freedom. The State might be able to deter and prevent terrorism, cybercrime and attacks on their security if it does its job in monitoring, but without limitations, monitoring can also be abused of power. The key issue is not if but whether, surveillance is conducted within constitutional limits. The rule of law is the guiding principle of a democratic system, and in such a system a State's power should not be unlimited. In particular, the Indian Constitution requires that any limitation upon freedom must meet the testes of legality, necessity and proportionality. However, with the landmark verdict in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India , the issue of surveillance gained even greater importance due to the Supreme Court's inclusion of Right to Privacy as a Fundamental Right guaranteed by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.