RAS question
In the K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017) case, the Supreme Court held that:
Correct answer: (A) Right to privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21.
In K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017), the Supreme Court held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right protected under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
Explanation
K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India settled a core constitutional doubt about privacy. A nine-judge Bench unanimously held that privacy is not merely a statutory interest, but a fundamental right protected by Part III of the Constitution, especially Articles 14, 19 and 21. The judgment treated privacy as emerging primarily from the guarantee of life and personal liberty under Article 21, with elements also arising from other fundamental freedoms and dignity. It also clarified that earlier observations in M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh, to the extent they denied constitutional protection to privacy, were not the correct law and stood overruled.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Privacy is a fundamental right, but it is not absolute; it may be restricted through a just, fair and reasonable procedure.
- (C) The 2017 Puttaswamy judgment decided the constitutional status of privacy, while Aadhaar was largely upheld later in 2018.
- (D) The Court rejected the idea that privacy is only statutory by recognising it as a fundamental right under Part III.
Concept
This tests the Fundamental Rights and Article 21 expansion theme in Indian Polity. It recurs in RAS because privacy links constitutional interpretation, state power and modern governance questions such as identity and data collection.