Right to privacy not fundamental, govt argues in Supreme Court

New Delhi: In the ongoing hearing on petitions in the Supreme Court against the unique identification project, or Aadhaar scheme, on the ground that it violates the privacy rights of individual citizens, the government on Wednesday told the court the Constitution does no envisage privacy as a fundamental right.

“Constitution makers did not intend to make right to privacy a fundamental right,” attorney general Mukul Rohatgi said, citing previous judgements of the apex court.

Pointing to the wide divergence of views on privacy in the past verdicts of the apex court, Rohatgi urged the three-judge bench hearing the case to refer the petitions challenging Aadhaar scheme to a Constitution bench of five judges.

He said the issue of privacy has not been settled by the apex court and would require a conclusive consideration.

At present, a bench comprising justices J. Chelameswar, S.A. Bobde and C. Nagappan are hearing the case.

Lawyer Shyam Divan, representing one of the petitioners, opposed the plea to refer the case to a Constitution bench, saying that even the government, in its written submissions, had said there is a fundamental right of privacy.

Divan will continue his arguments after 2pm.