Government welcomes SC judgement on right to privacy

A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Thursday that individual privacy is a fundamental right, though  the Government had argued in court that the constitution does not guarantee individual privacy as an inalienable fundamental right.

Claiming that the Government has been of a consistent view to maintain that  right to privacy should be fundamental, Prasad said the  the "essence of today's judgment" validated what Arun Jaitley, then Law Minister, had told Parliament in 2016.

"Much before the creation of the nine-judge bench, the Government, while moving the Aadhaar Act had clearly acknowledged that Right to Privacy is fundamental, flowing from Article 21," the minister said.

Coming down heavily on the opposition,  particularly the Congress, for their criticism of the Government after the judgement, Prasad said,  "People from the Congress have been attacking us, the Left has joined them too. I would like to know what has been the Congress' record when it comes to protecting individual liberties?" he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, he said, is "led by leaders who have fought for individual liberties during Emergency."

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has described the top court  judgement as a "blow on unbridled encroachment" by the Government.

"This is a blow to the Government, because the government had argued that people do not have a right to privacy," said senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who is involved in a large multi-party case against the mandatory use of Aadhaar identity cards as an infringement of privacy.