Six years since Puttaswamy

Context:

As it has been six years since the Puttaswamy case got its pace, India is continually focusing on privacy Jurisprudence.

Expanding the Right to Privacy

• Background and the Puttaswamy Judgment: It expanded the understanding of privacy, emphasizing autonomy, dignity, and identity as key principles.
• Impact on Legal Landscape: The Supreme Court (SC) has used the right to privacy to decriminalize same-sex relations and adultery, promote interfaith and inter-caste marriages, and uphold the right to die with dignity.
• Challenges: The SC's evolving privacy jurisprudence is shaping fundamental rights and freedoms in India.

Future of Privacy Jurisprudence in India

• Implications and Ongoing Challenges: The SC will decide on the Pegasus spyware allegations, LGBTQIA+ marriage rights, and Digital Personal Data Protection Act
• Pivotal Cases Ahead: These cases will shape the evolution of fundamental rights and freedoms.
• Continued Expansion: The Court's role is to enable individuals to effectively exercise their rights and freedoms in India.

Way forward

• Balancing Rights and Restrictions: While privacy rights have expanded, some restrictions have been imposed, such as on wearing hijabs in educational institutions.
• Focus on individual Rights: The challenge is to strike a balance between individual rights and societal interests.
• Right to Privacy as a Fundamental Right and must get a fair Constitutional recognition.