A nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court of India will decide whether the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right under the Constitution of India..The decision to place this issue before a 9-judge Bench was taken today by a 5-judge Constitution Bench hearing the Aadhaar case. Today’s Bench comprised Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and Justices J Chelameswar, SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud and Abdul Nazeer..The Bench, which sat at 12 noon today, discussed with the parties for a considerable amount of time before deciding that the limited issue of privacy should be settled by a 9-judge Bench..In deciding this issue, the Court will examine the ratio decidendi in the cases of MP Sharma And Others v. Satish Chandra and Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh and the correctness of those judgments..The judgments in MP Sharma, rendered by an 8-judge Bench in 1954, and Kharak Singh, rendered in 1962 by a 6-judge Bench, are the those which discuss the Right to Privacy as a facet of Fundamental Rights under Article 21 of the Constitution..It is the Centre’s contention that these cases do not lay down any Right to Privacy. If the 9-judge Bench accepts the same, then judgments rendered subsequent to that would be rendered per incuriam..The matter will be heard out tomorrow by the 9-judge Bench, with the petitioners arguing from 10.30 am to 1 pm, and the State from 2 to 4 pm..Once the 9-judge Bench decides the issue, the case will be sent back to a 5-judge Bench for determination of validity of Aadhaar.
A nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court of India will decide whether the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right under the Constitution of India..The decision to place this issue before a 9-judge Bench was taken today by a 5-judge Constitution Bench hearing the Aadhaar case. Today’s Bench comprised Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and Justices J Chelameswar, SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud and Abdul Nazeer..The Bench, which sat at 12 noon today, discussed with the parties for a considerable amount of time before deciding that the limited issue of privacy should be settled by a 9-judge Bench..In deciding this issue, the Court will examine the ratio decidendi in the cases of MP Sharma And Others v. Satish Chandra and Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh and the correctness of those judgments..The judgments in MP Sharma, rendered by an 8-judge Bench in 1954, and Kharak Singh, rendered in 1962 by a 6-judge Bench, are the those which discuss the Right to Privacy as a facet of Fundamental Rights under Article 21 of the Constitution..It is the Centre’s contention that these cases do not lay down any Right to Privacy. If the 9-judge Bench accepts the same, then judgments rendered subsequent to that would be rendered per incuriam..The matter will be heard out tomorrow by the 9-judge Bench, with the petitioners arguing from 10.30 am to 1 pm, and the State from 2 to 4 pm..Once the 9-judge Bench decides the issue, the case will be sent back to a 5-judge Bench for determination of validity of Aadhaar.
