Right To Privacy: Father's Judgement Overruled By Son As 'Seriously Flawed'

New Delhi: Nine Supreme Court judges were unanimous as they ruled today that privacy is a fundamental right of every citizen. Among them is a judge who overruled a past judgement by his father, calling it "seriously flawed".

During the 1975 Emergency, when fundamental rights were suspended by the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government, a five-judge Supreme Court bench backed it. The bench included Justice YV Chandrachud.

Today, overturning that ruling, Justice Chandrachud's son DY Chandrachud, wrote: "The judgements rendered by four judges are flawed.  Life and personal liberty are inalienable to human rights. No civilised state can contemplate encroachment on life and personal liberty."

One of the lawyers who argued for the right to privacy commented that it was the "son correcting his father's infamous judgement."

In the 1976 case known as "ADM Jabalpur", the Supreme Court considered whether fundamental rights stood suspended by the Emergency order.

"The right to personal liberty has no hallmark and therefore, when the right is put in action, it is impossible to identify whether the right is given by the constitution or existed before the constitution," Justice YV Chandrachud had said.

His son said today that "neither life nor liberty are bounties conferred by the state nor does the constitution create these rights."

Thousands of opposition leaders were jailed and restrictions were imposed on the media between 1975 and 1977 by Indira Gandhi during the Emergency, which is considered one of the darkest periods in democracy.

Mrs Gandhi urged the President to declare an Emergency after a court convicted her of corruption and declared her election invalid, which led to opposition calls for her exit. Several opposition leaders were jailed without trial.