A Constitution bench of the Supreme Court has ruled that privacy is a fundamental right for all citizens. A nine-judge bench unanimously ruled that it is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Liberty. Earlier, a five-judge bench hearing an array of petitions challenging the Aadhaar Act had referred the matter to a larger bench. The bench had reserved its verdict on the matter on August 2. The court has not ruled on the validity of sharing information under Aadhaar today. That will be decided separately by a smaller bench at a later date.
Right to Privacy ruling - Twitter reactions
As soon as the ruling came, Twitter was overjoyed but people had their apprehensions on its implications too:
Politicians were quick to react on Twitter. P Chidambaram, Omar Abdullah hailed the judgement. Former minister of home affairs P Chidambaram wrote: "Privacy is a fundamental right. The freedom that was won in 1947 has been enriched and enlarged. Privacy is the core of personal liberty. Article 21 has acquired a new magnificence."
There could be huge implications on government’s Aadhar scheme that has now made mandatory even banking and Income Tax Returns to be linked with it. There are many reports of Aadhaar details getting leaked which has led to security fears.
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