K.S. Puttaswamy Judgment After-effects: Moving Towards Transformative Constitutionalism

Abstract

The Supreme Court is the custodian and interpreter of the Constitution. The Court has never been reluctant in transforming the Constitution for better to meet the societal needs. Article 21 is one of the most widely interpreted articles of the Constitution. The judgment of Maneka Gandhi marked the beginning of a new era with liberalized approach to the interpretation of Article 21 which later became the basis of establishing many other rights, including the right to privacy. Many years later, the landmark K.S. Puttaswamy judgment was passed which established that the “right to privacy” is protected under Part III of the Constitution of India, marking the beginning of another era. Since then, it has become a significant precedent in many cases, which not only was reiterated, but also the scope and ambit of right to privacy in India has been significantly widened in subsequent judgments. This paper analyses the scope of Article 21 and judgments which elaborated its scope. Further the paper traces the journey of right to privacy which was possible through judicial interpretation of Article 21. Since K.S. Puttaswamy judgment has become pivotal in this journey therefore the entire scheme revolves around this juncture. Firstly, pre-Puttaswamy era judgment has been discussed followed by an analysis of the K.S. Puttaswamy judgment then the effect of this judgment in subsequent judgments have been traced with the help of relevant case laws.