The case arose out of a challenge to the Aadhaar scheme, which required the Court to first settle a threshold constitutional question: does the Indian Constitution guarantee a fundamental right to privacy at all?
Whether the right to privacy is a fundamental right guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution of India.
The nine-judge Bench held unanimously that the right to privacy is a fundamental right, intrinsic to the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as part of the freedoms guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution.
Privacy is not a monolithic concept — it includes informational privacy, bodily autonomy and decisional autonomy, and any state (or private) intrusion must meet the tests of legality, necessity and proportionality.
Every subsequent Indian ruling on personality rights, image rights and digital identity draws its constitutional foundation from this judgment.
