AADHAAR ACT: A JURISPRUDENTIAL CONUNDRUM THAT ENTAILS INVASIVENESS AND BREACHES OF PRIVACY

Abstract

Privacy, in its simplest sense, allows each human being to be left alone in a core which is inviolable. Yet the autonomy of the individual is conditioned by her relationships with the rest of society. Those relationships may and do often pose questions to autonomy and free choice. The overarching presence of state and nonstate entities regulates aspects of social existence which bear upon the freedom of the individual. The preservation of constitutional liberty is, so to speak, work in progress. Challenges have to be addressed to existing problems. Equally, new challenges have to be dealt with in terms of a constitutional understanding of where liberty places an individual in the context of a social order. The emergence of new challenges is exemplified by this case, where the debate on privacy is being analysed in the context of a global information based society. In an age where information technology governs virtually every aspect of our lives, the task before the Court is to impart constitutional meaning to individual liberty in an interconnected world. The question whether our constitution protects privacy as an elemental principle, the Court has to be sensitive to the needs of and the opportunities and dangers posed to liberty in a digital world. A Bench of three judges of the Apex Court, while considering the constitutional challenge to the Aadhaar card scheme of the Union government noted in its order dated 11 August 2015 that thenorms for and compilation of demographic biometric data by government was questioned on the ground that it violates the right to privacy. Key Words: K.S. Puttaswamy Judgement, Civil Death, Right to Information, Reasonable Classification, Right to remain Silent, Deprivation of Choice, Bodily Integrity, Narrow Tailoring test, State Surveillance, Private Entities.