Privacy not an absolute concept, observes SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday noted that privacy wasn’t an absolute concept and that it could not prevent the state from making laws imposing reasonable restrictions on citizens.

“How do we define privacy? What are its contents? Its contours? How can the State regulate privacy? What obligations do the State have to protect a person’s privacy?” Justice Chandrachud, member of the nine-judge Constitutional Bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar, asked the petitioners who are challenging the Aadhaar law on the ground that it affects the privacy of citizens.

The Court was deciding on a petition wherein the applicants wanted the Aadhar Law to be scrapped on the ground that it breached the right to privacy.

The court also observed that an attempt to define the right to privacy might cause more harm than good.

The SC bench noted that an attempt to define the right to privacy may cause more harm than good, according to reports. The apex court further observed that privacy could only be recognised as a definite right once it has been clearly defined.

“If people have put themselves in the public realm using technology, is that not a surrender of their right to privacy,” Justice Chandrachud was quoted as saying in The Hindu.