UPSC Prelims 2024 Q76: Right to Privacy — Constitutional Basis
Under which of the following Articles of the Constitution of India, has the Supreme Court of India placed the Right to Privacy?
- Article 15
- Article 16
- Article 19
- Article 21
Answer: (d) Article 21
Statement-wise explanation
- a: incorrect — Article 15 bars the State from discriminating against citizens only on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. It is an equality right in the Articles 14–18 group. It says nothing about a zone of personal autonomy or control over personal information. The Supreme Court did not place privacy here.
- b: incorrect — Article 16 guarantees equality of opportunity in public employment. Reservation in government jobs is linked to this Article. It covers access to State jobs, not personal privacy, so it cannot be the home of the right.
- c: incorrect — Article 19 lists the freedoms of citizens, such as speech, assembly and movement. In Puttaswamy (2017) the Court said parts of privacy also come from these freedoms. But it held that privacy is protected mainly as an intrinsic part of life and personal liberty, not under Article 19. Article 19 also covers only citizens, while privacy belongs to every person.
- d: correct — On 24 August 2017, a nine-judge bench in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India held that the right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21. It is also protected as part of the freedoms in Part III. The ruling overruled M.P. Sharma (eight judges, 1954) and Kharak Singh (six judges, 1962) to the extent that they had said the Constitution does not protect privacy.
How to eliminate
Read what each Article is about, and three options fall away. Articles 15 and 16 belong to the equality group (Arts. 14–18). One deals with non-discrimination and the other with public jobs, and neither is about personal autonomy. That leaves Article 19 and Article 21. Since Maneka Gandhi (1978), the Supreme Court has used Article 21 to recognise unwritten rights such as dignity, livelihood, health, shelter and speedy trial. Privacy is one of these rights. Article 19 applies only to citizens, but privacy is a right of every person, which also points to Article 21. In the end, this is a fact to remember: Puttaswamy (2017) placed privacy in Article 21, while noting that it also draws on other Part III freedoms.
Know more
Privacy as a fundamental right
The Constitution does not mention privacy anywhere. The Supreme Court found it inside Part III through interpretation.
| Case | Year | Bench | Holding on privacy |
|---|---|---|---|
| M.P. Sharma | 1954 | 8 judges | Rejected privacy as a constitutional right (in the context of search and seizure) |
| Kharak Singh | 1962 | 6 judges | Struck down police night-time home visits, but majority said privacy is not a guaranteed right |
| Maneka Gandhi | 1978 | 7 judges | Procedure under Art. 21 must be fair, just and reasonable; Arts. 14, 19, 21 read together |
| K.S. Puttaswamy | 2017 | 9 judges | Privacy is a fundamental right, intrinsic to Art. 21 and part of Part III freedoms; M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh overruled on this point |
| Aadhaar (Puttaswamy II) | 2018 | 5 judges | Upheld Aadhaar scheme by majority, but struck down some provisions using the privacy test |
Privacy is not absolute. Puttaswamy says the State may restrict privacy only if three tests are met:
- Legality: there must be a law.
- Legitimate aim: the law must serve a valid State purpose.
- Proportionality: the means must be rationally connected to the aim and no more intrusive than needed.
What privacy covers: bodily integrity, personal choices (food, sexual orientation, relationships), the home, and informational privacy (control over personal data).
After Puttaswamy: The judgment urged a data protection regime. That led to the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Courts have since relied on the Article 21 privacy right in cases on decriminalising homosexuality (Navtej Johar, 2018), the right to be forgotten, and surveillance.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- K.S. Puttaswamy case: This is the nine-judge ruling the question asks about, which fixed the constitutional home of privacy.
- Right to privacy: Knowing what privacy protects (body, choices, information) helps you match it to the right fundamental right.
- Right to life and personal liberty: The question turns on which Part III guarantee is wide enough to hold an unwritten right like privacy.
- Maneka Gandhi case: The 1978 case that opened Article 21 to new, unwritten rights, the route later used for privacy.
- Golden triangle: Two of the options sit in this trio of Articles, and courts read them together when testing privacy restrictions.
- Aadhaar case: The 2018 follow-up where the Court first applied the privacy test to a major government scheme.