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Aadhaar Can Continue If It Doesn’t Infringe On Right To Privacy, Says Soli Sorabjee

Right to Privacy judgement not a blow for the government, says Soli Sorabjee.

UIDAI moves towards digital payment with Aadhaar enabled payment systems. (Photo: Altered by <b>The Quint</b>)
UIDAI moves towards digital payment with Aadhaar enabled payment systems. (Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The Supreme Court’s Right to Privacy judgement is not a blow for the government or the Aadhaar scheme, according to former Attorney General of India Soli Sorabjee.

The government can still continue with Aadhaar provided it does not infringe on an individual’s privacy “unreasonably and excessively”, he said in an interview to BloombergQuint.

Here are the edited excerpts from the conversation:

What did you make of the landmark judgement on Right to Privacy?

Any decision that enhances the fundamental rights of people is always welcome. It’s important to note that the Supreme Court did not hesitate to overrule its previous judgement which seemed to suggest that privacy is not a fundamental right, indicating that it was not stubborn. It realises that they are not infallible and if a case is made out to attempt to reconsider the previous judgement, they do it the way they’ve done in this case, which is a commendable feature.

What implications does the Right To Privacy judgement entail for a common man?

For a common man, it means that the State comes through and there can be no snooping. Generally, while questioning, the authorities can can ask what did you eat and drink, or whom did you go out with, at what time, etc. These are matters pertaining to an individual’s privacy, in which the State has no concern.

In the West it is said, right to privacy is the right to be left alone. That’s the most precious right any civilised community guarantees to a person. But like all fundamental rights, this has to be absolute too. In some cases, it should be restricted. If the person is a public official, then there may be cases where one may want to know which are the organisations he is associated with, which are the places he visits. If the person is concerned with militancy or terrorist activities, and the like. Hence, right to privacy can be restricted in exceptional circumstances but not just at the whims and fancies of the government.

Do you see this judgement as a blow for the government, considering Aadhaar would have hampered an individual’s privacy?

No, I don’t see this as a blow to the government. It will not be a blow, and will rather help the State to deal with the judgement and try and justify Aadhaar in some cases. It is not correct to say that because of this judgement Aadhaar goes or is retained. It depends. It has to be decided on case-to-case basis, on the basis of the principles enunciated in the judgement.

Does it take away the powers that Aadhaar had so far considering that now, the government cannot do a lot of things?

To an extent, it does, but the government will refine its powers. Government would want to do things in conformity with the principle led down by the judgement. In other words, without infringing on the right to privacy unreasonably and excessively, Aadhaar can still go on.