Centre tells SC that Right to privacy is not a fundamental right

Union Government has told Supreme Court today that privacy can not be treated as a fundamental right as privacy is multifaceted.

Speaking on the issue, Attorney General KK Venugopal told the nine-judge constitution bench that “There is no fundamental right to privacy and even if it is assumed as a fundamental right, it is multifaceted. Every facet can’t be ipso facto considered a fundamental right.”

Mr.Venugopal further added that since “informational privacy” could not be a right to privacy, hence it could never be a fundamental right.

Answering a question by the Supreme Court as to what was the difference between right to privacy being considered a common law right and a fundamental right, Mr.Venugopal stated that the common law right could be enforced by filing a civil law suit while a fundamental right could be enforced like any other writ.

While Union Government is insisting that right to privacy is not a fundamental right, four non-BJP ruled states – Karnataka, West Bengal, Punjab and Puducherry, represented by Senior advocated Kapil Sibal, objected to this and said that the court is needed to take a fresh look on the right to privacy and its contours in the modern day.

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