Do we have the right to privacy in India

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Do we have the right to privacy in India

• Sagar Suryawanshi Pune based Advocate is known to
  highlight the loopholes in the rules of Indian
  laws to ensure that these cannot be used against
  the country. In the same context, we will be
  discussing the right to privacy in this article.
  And since Sagar Suryawanshi, a Pune advocate has
  always been keen on how he can make the Indian
  Constitution better, we will also see how the
  right to privacy can be made better.
• What is the right to privacy?
• Privacy is something which is very much required
  by each and every person in order to keep their
  personal space protected. Therefore, the right to
  privacy is one of the most important aspect in
  todays world. Talking about the right to
  privacy, it is a fundamental human right that was
  both appreciated and debated in many forums and
  countries for many years. However, now it is a
  part of fundamental rights at both International
  and national levels. This right to privacy is the
  main right via which the dignity of a human being
  can be protected. Whenever an individual aims to
  protect his privacy and wants to stop any kind of
  illegal interruption, he or she can use the right
  to privacy. This right to privacy is available
  against a state, journalist and even your
  neighbour. If we go back, we will see that in the
  last few years the judgement of the supreme court
  has made the headlines of the newspaper. The
  Supreme court not only protects the rights of an
  individual but also strengthens them. For
  example, the judgement of section 377, triple
  talaq judgement and the aadhaar judgement.

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Till a few years ago, as per the supreme court,
to protect society, the state had the right to
override the power of search and seizure. The
supreme court also said that in the Indian
Constitution there is no concept known as the
right to privacy. On the contrary, there is an
amendment present in the US constitution that
prohibits illegal search and seizure and provides
the right to privacy to their citizens.

But, in the year 2017, the right to privacy was
declared as the fundamental right by the Supreme
Court.

What restricts the right to privacy?
As defined by the supreme court of India, there
are certain rights restricted to privacy such as
surveillance and censorship. This is only
permissible in cases when they are prescribed by
law. Recently, there are some developments made
in the IT industry, due to which data of an
individual can be stored very easily by some
unknown source, without the consent of the
individual. This is a criminal offence if that
data is used for some unethical practice.

The right to privacy given by the Indian
Constitution comes with a lot of restrictions
attached to it. All of these restrictions were
declared after taking into account various
judgements. Some of these are mentioned as
below-

In case any restriction on right to privacy is
supposed to be imposed only by following certain
constitutional procedures.

? If there are any conditions, where the
restriction on the right to privacy is to be
imposed, to protect the sovereignty and integrity
of the country, security of the state or the
nation, defamation or incitement to an offence,
then it cannot be challenged.
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• ? If there are any conditions, where the
  restriction on the right to privacy is to be
  imposed, to protect the sovereignty and integrity
  of the country, security of the state or the
  nation, defamation or incitement to an offence,
  then it cannot be challenged.
• ? The right to privacy is also restricted in case
  of any kind of any compelling state interest to
  be served.
• ? The right of privacy does not apply to anyone,
  who on purpose lets himself or themselves into
  some or other kind of controversies.
• ? Like other fundamental rights given by the
  constitution of India, the right of privacy is
  applicable only against the state. This rule is
  defined under Article 12 of the Indian
  Constitution.
• Some required changes in the right to privacy
• There are some changes that if implemented to the
  right to privacy, can bring effective
  transformation. They are-
• ? Simplifying the legal framework which regulates
  the information about surveillance. This will
  ensure that the law is equal and transparent.
• ? To form a framework that has a very strong grip
  on all the communications that deals with the
  security and intelligence of the country.
• ? Review and reorganise all the laws that talk
  about the import and export in the country.
• Conclusion
• The right to privacy is one of the most important
  rights to protect an individuals identity. And
  it is very essential to ensure that it is never
  misused in any condition.