Right to Privacy is an intrinsic and inalienable right of every individual, SC held in 2017 privacy judgment. The Ministry of Home Affairs through a notification has authorised 10 central agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt all the data contained in any computer system. The release of the notification has created a furore among the people as the said order seems to allow these investigating agencies the power to snoop into citizens’ digital space.
The said notification is seen as a challenge to the SC’s nine-judge Constitution Bench judgment on privacy in KS Puttaswamy case, which directed the government to protect informational privacy of every individual. Many cyber security experts, lawyers and activists have raised serious concerns that recent order will lead to “a complete surveillance system” without any options for safeguards as it is impossible to exist without leaving a digital footprint nowadays.
Judicial review is need of the hour to test the constitutional validity of notification as this seems to be an attack on the fundamental right to privacy.
-Romit Chandrakar, Student Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh