Too Lazy to Read Right to Privacy Ruling? Here’s the TL;DR Version

SC ruled Right to Privacy is a fundamental right in its landmark verdict. If you won’t read that, then read this.

(On 24 August 2017, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed that privacy is a fundamental right under the Constitution of India. One year on, The Quint looks back at what the judges said, and why the historic judgment is so important for all of us.)

A nine-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar, ruled on Thursday that the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right for Indian citizens under the Constitution of India, which means that no legislation passed by the government can violate it.

In doing so, the Supreme Court expressly overruled two old cases (MP Sharma in 1954 and Kharak Singh in 1962), which were being used by the government to argue that privacy was not protected under the Constitution. The final, unanimous Order of the Court is as follows:

This is, however, just the tip of the tip of the iceberg. The special Constitution Bench, headed by CJI JS Khehar, and comprising Justices J Chelameswar, SA Bobde, RK Agrawal, RF Nariman, AM Sapre, DY Chandrachud, SK Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer, had heard arguments from some of India’s most prominent lawyers for six days, over a period of three weeks.

This resulted in a 547-page verdict including six different opinions. So not your average bit of light reading.

Still want to know what they said though? We bring to you the Cliffnotes version of the verdict.

Also Read: Live | Welcome SC Verdict But Right to Privacy Not Absolute: Govt

Also Read: SC Verdict on Privacy Enhances Citizen Rights: Soli Sorabjee