Opposition leaders salute the SC, says right to privacy verdict parth breaking

Congratulating the Supreme Court, former Union Finance Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram said: "Privacy is a fundamental right. The freedom that was won in 1947 has been enriched and enlarged."

He claimed that the verdict is a setback to the present Government.

"The Aadhaar we (Congress) thought is completely compatible with the Right to Privacy. Aadhaar in itself is not inconsistent with the Right to Privacy, it is the current Government's interpretation that is not correct," he said.

"Article 21 is the right to life and liberty. Any corrosion of that should be fought. Privacy is the core of personal liberty. Privacy is an inalienable part of life itself."

"Today we can once again celebrate our freedom. This verdict is a setback to the government,"  Chidambaram said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed gratitude to the judiciary and said, , "Thank you SC for this very important judgement ."  Check out some other reactions on Twitter after the judgement."

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also expressed his elation : "I have a right to privacy & it's a fundamental one," he tweeted.

Congress spokesman Randeep S Surjewala tweeted : "Path breaking & seminal judgement of Supreme Court declares 'Privacy' as fundamental right. A great victory for liberty & freedom."

"S.C rejects Modi Govt's attempt to whittle down the right to privacy as a fundamental right by AG's plea of no mention in Constitution," he said.

Congress leader and senior Supreme Court advocate Salman Khurshid  said : "Privacy Fundamental Right has far reaching implications 4 our democracy. Celebrate the defeat of forces that wish to intrude in our lives."

CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the judgement passed by the Supreme Court will pave the way for securing people's rights.

Yechury tweeted to say: "We have been opposed to mandatory Aadhaar, data misuse by foreign tech corporates. This judgement will pave the way for securing our rights."

The Supreme Court unanimously declared that right to privacy was a Fundamental right under the Constitution.  A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar ruled that "right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution".

The ruling on the highly contentious issue was to deal with a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of various social welfare schemes.

Others members of the bench comprising Justices J Chelameswar, S A Bobde, R K Agrawal, R F Nariman, A M Sapre, DY Chandrachud, S K Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer also shared the same view.