Supreme Court of India has decided the composition of the 9-judge Bench which will decide whether Right to Privacy is a Fundamental Right under the Constitution of India.
The Bench is composed of –
- CJI JS Khehar,
- J Chelameswar,
- SA Bobde,
- RK Agarwal,
- Rohinton Fali Nariman,
- Abhay Manohar Sapre,
- DY Chandrachud,
- Sanjay Kishan Kaul and
- Abdul Nazeer
This would be the second time in the last ten years that a Bench of nine judges would be sitting to decide a case in Supreme Court.
Earlier today, a 5-judge Constitution Bench had decided that the position regarding Right to Privacy under the Indian Constitution has to be decided by a 9-judge Bench in the light of the difference in views expressed by the parties regarding two judgments – MP Sharma And Others v. Satish Chandra and Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh
The judgments in MP Sharma, rendered by an 8-judge Bench in 1954, and Kharak Singh, rendered in 1962 by a 6-judge Bench, are the judgments which discuss Right to Privacy as a facet of Fundamental Rights under Article 21 of the Constitution.
It is the Centre’s contention that these cases do not lay down any Right to Privacy. The 9-judge Bench will re-examine the ratio laid down in these two judgments.
If the 9-judge Bench accepts the Centre’s stance, then subsequent judgments rendered by various courts relying on the above two decisions would be rendered per incuriam.
Once the 9-judge Bench decides the issue, the case will be sent back to a 5-judge Bench for determination of validity of Aadhaar.