Right to Privacy: A Critical Analysis

“Law is a normative science that is a science which lays down norms and standard for human behaviour in a specified situation or situations which is enforceable through the sanctions of the state.” The concept of privacy has been the most challenging & technical issue in front of our judiciary, government & the people of India in the past. But what actually do we mean by the term privacy & in what context do we say, that we should have a right to privacy? It is important to critically analyze the right to privacy because initially, the right to privacy had a very narrower scope as it only included 'right to be let alone”. The objective to conduct this research-based study is to trace the evolution of privacy, find out what exactly privacy is & how it evolved through various cases before the judiciary. The paper would critically analyze the judgment & its implications in KS Puttaswamy Vs Union of India case in which right to privacy was declared to be a fundamental right under part 3 of the Constitution of India & not an elitists phenomenon anymore, by a 9-judge bench of Supreme court of India. This judgment broadened the scope of Article 21 which entitles a person to right to life & personal liberty & included right to privacy under this article. Apart from the above, the paper would also focus on other aspects related to privacy such as phone tapping, state surveillance & privacy in the age of pandemic. The expected outcome of study would be to properly understand the view of judiciary towards right to privacy & what more needs to be achieved as a nation as far as right to privacy is concerned specially in the digital age.