A nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that right to privacy is fundamental and an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Liberty. A five-judge bench hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the Aadhaar Act had earlier referred the matter to a larger bench. The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, comprising Justices J Chelameswar, SA Bobde, RK Agrawal, RF Nariman, AM Sapre, DY Chandrachud, SK Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer, delivered the landmark verdict. The bench had reserved its verdict on the issue on 2 August, after a marathon hearing spread over six days.
Issuing a unanimous ruling, the court also said a three-judge bench will test the validity of Aadhaar, a controversial 12-digit biometric unique identity project that the government is pushing widely but which has raised privacy concerns. There were apprehensions that it could help the government spy on people, leading to multiple petitions in court challenging Aadhaar on the question of privacy.