In Brief
This landmark judgment addresses whether the Indian Constitution guarantees a fundamental right to privacy. The Supreme Court referred the matter to a nine-judge Constitution Bench for reconsideration, noting that earlier decisions by eight-judge and six-judge benches had rejected privacy as a fundamental right. The Court determined this constitutional question warranted examination by a larger bench. Counsel were granted liberty to file written submissions before the Constitution Bench hearing, scheduled for 19 July 2017. This referral ultimately led to the historic 2017 privacy judgment recognizing privacy as a fundamental right.
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