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A word of caution before being carried away by the words "fundamental right". According to the judgement, the right to privacy is fundamental (as an offshoot of
by msravi 9y ago
A word of caution before being carried away by the words "fundamental right". According to the judgement, the right to privacy is fundamental (as an offshoot of the fundamental rights of freedom of life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution).
Asserting it as a "fundamental right" raises the bar on what restrictions can be put. But reasonable restrictions can still be put.
A separate bench of the SC is now going to test the validity of the Aadhaar Act on the basis of whether the restrictions are reasonable in the light of privacy being a fundamental right.
Edit: The Aadhaar Act is an act that allows for the government to collect biometric and other personal data that can be used to identify an individual for various services (including but not limited to governmental benefits).
- product50 9y agoAt least put in some effort to explain on what you mean. You didn't mention what type of restrictions can be put in as well as why getting carried away by the words fundamental right is something to be cautious about.
- vkrm 9y ago"Reasonable restrictions" are not very well defined in the Indian constitution. They are quite broad and open to interpretation on a case-by-case basis. "... the State can impose reasonable restrictions in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence."
- product50 9y agoCan reasonable restrictions be put on fundamental rights as well? So you are suggesting that the right to life has reasonable restrictions -- that in order to be friendly to a foreign state, the nation state can murder their citizens?
- thanksgiving 9y agoSorry for being off topic but I believe fundamental rights do not and should not require a citizenship test. If we hold these rights to be fundamental, we must not be willing to tolerate violations of such rights of any person in our jurisdiction.
- srean 9y ago> So you are suggesting that the right to life has reasonable restrictions Please read what he said, he is not saying that, the thing he quoted is, and that thing I believe is the constitution as it stands now.
- vkrm 9y agoI'm not suggesting anything, the Constitution of India specifically allows for "reasonable restrictions". The right to life does have restrictions - the death penalty is still legal in India.
- nileshtrivedi 9y agoJustice A.P.Shah panel had recommended principles for privacy which goes into quite a bit of detail. So there is a guiding light and not everything will be case-by-case basis. http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/rep_privacy.pdf http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/rep_privacy....
- msravi 9y ago> as why getting carried away by the words fundamental right is something to be cautious about. Because people sometimes tend to equate "fundamental" with "absolute", and assume that the right cannot be taken away from them under any circumstances. That is not correct. > You didn't mention what type of restrictions can be put What is a "reasonable restriction" has not been defined unequivocally - it is subject to interpretation of the courts.
- product50 9y agoApart from declaration of emergency, which is an exception circumstance, when has the fundamental right been taken away? Why are you giving extreme examples to prove your point? The last time fundamental rights were taken away from Indian citizens was in 1975.
- msravi 9y agoFundamental rights are not absolute, in the sense that reasonable restrictions can be placed on them. An example is Article 21 of the constitution: No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law So a person's right to life or personal liberty can be restricted according to procedure established by law. That is why you find people in prison. Their fundamental right to liberty is restricted by a procedure established by law. Similarly, the fundamental right to privacy can be restricted by a procedure established by law.