Supreme Court · 2017 · (2017) 10 SCC 1
Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India
W.P. (Civil) No. 494 of 2012
Parties: Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) and another v. Union of India and others
Decision: 24 August 2017
Bench: J.S. Khehar CJI, J. Chelameswar J., S.A. Bobde J., R.K. Agrawal J., R.F. Nariman J., A.M. Sapre J., D.Y. Chandrachud J., S.K. Kaul J., S. Abdul Nazeer J.
Plain-language summary
A nine-judge Constitution Bench unanimously held that privacy is a fundamental right protected as part of liberty and dignity under the Constitution, including under Article 21 and the freedoms guaranteed by Part III.
Key holdings
- Privacy is a constitutionally protected fundamental right.
- Privacy includes bodily, informational and decisional autonomy.
- The right is not absolute and restrictions require a valid legal basis and constitutional justification.
- Earlier decisions denying a constitutional privacy right were overruled to that extent.
Official judgment
This summary is informational. Read and cite the court’s judgment for the authoritative text.
Supreme Court Reports — official judgment