The Supreme Court’s Right to Privacy Judgment – VIII: Privacy and the Right to Information

In the aftermath of the Puttaswamy judgment, it was reported that a committee of MPs had written to the election commission, asking that the disclosure of the assets of candidates’ spouses should not be required. They made their request on the basis of Puttaswamy. This has led to (legitimate) worries that privacy can now be invoked to stifle or hobble the right to information.For the reasons I advanced in the previous essay (dealing with the right to privacy and free speech), I believe that this...

Insolvency Proceedings Against Personal Guarantors Under The Insolvency And Bankruptcy Code - Missed Opportunity By The Allahabad HC?

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the, "Code") is a crucial legislation passed by the Parliament which has the potential to be a game changer in the insolvency and bankruptcy regime in India. Since the Code is in its nascent stage, it is of paramount importance that interpretational issues are settled at the earliest in order to facilitate smooth functioning of resolution and liquidation proceedings.In absence of requisite notifications and clarifications, the responsibility rests with...

Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace in India: Reflections on the Private Sector (Part II)

This article is focused on implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 in the private sector. It is a sequel to an EPW article published in 2013 which put forth that compliance by the private sector organisations to the Supreme Court Vishakha guidelines (1997) was poor and absence of legislation worked to the advantage of employers. Three years since enforcement of the 2013 Act sexual harassment of women persists and continues...

Senior Advocate PP Rao: Great Defender of Constitution

Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court P P (Parameshwar) Rao, defended the living document of our nation, i.e., the Constitution of India. With his argumentative skills and interpretative creativity, Indians won two very important cases. One – securing the secular character of the nation, Two- giving all important right of voters to information about criminal, educational and economic background of contesting candidates, which could be otherwise their private information.He defended dismissal of...

Deconstructing Courts

Last year, on the occasion of Constitution Day, former CJI Justice T. S. Thakur released an artistic and informative piece of work, titled ‘Courts of India: Past to Present’. Prepared under the guidance of the editorial committee, consisting of Justice S. A. Bobde as its head and others, and with contributions from several people, it charts the history of the courts of India since the year 1500 till the present time. With several mesmeric images sandwiched between historical narratives and...

The Supreme Court’s Right to Privacy Judgment – VII: Privacy and the Freedom of Speech

Last week, in a series of six essay, we discussed various aspects of what the Supreme Court did in Justice Puttaswamy vs Union of India. The Court held that there existed a fundamental right to privacy (essays I and II), that its elements were the bodily and mental privacy, informational self-determination, and decisional autonomy (essays III, IV, and V), and it also indicated the broad standards for limiting the right (essay VI). It is equally important, however, to discuss what the Court did...

In Remembrance Of Senior Advocate Kelu Nambiar

It is been five years since TP Kelu Nambiar, senior advocate of the Kerala High Court, left us all for his heavenly abode. An expert in constitutional law, advocate Nambiar was a member of the Kerala Law Reforms Commission and author of several books.A lawyer and law teacher, he had enrolled in the Madras High Court in 1954. He wrote several articles and appeared in many important cases. He had the courage to criticise judgments, even that of Justice VR Krishna Iyer, and was respected by the...

A Tribute To P.P Rao

From his early childhood days, Padma Bhushan senior advocate PP Rao had the sole aim to pursue law - his inspiration being his own uncle and brother, and the dedication he saw in lawyers who fought tirelessly to relieve the distress of their clients. Such was his dedication that he took up teaching at a local district high school to support his pursuit of the legal profession. This was yet another milestone in his life that would leave an indelible mark upon his personality - the passion for...

Criminalizing Revenge Porn From The Privacy Aspects: The Model Revenge Porn Prohibitory Provision

Since the Supreme court of India had pronounced the judgment on right to privacy on august 24, 2017, making it a fundamental right, several legal luminaries have expressed their views on the impact of the judgment on various issues including data security of individuals. On several occasions, I had the opportunity to critically analyze India’s penal as well as Information technology laws including Indian Penal Code, Information Technology Act, 2000(as amended in 2008) from the perspective of...

National Health Policy 2017 and Right to Health: Negation of Reality

The National Health Policy (NHP) 2017, proposes an ambitious health agenda, especially with regard to the enhancement of public spending on health from the current level of 1.15% of GDP to 2.5 %. However, the policy does not address many issues pointed out in the draft NHP 2015.[i] This commentary analyses the negation of the right to health in the policy.The policy explicitly rejects the idea of legislation on the right to healthcare, thus also negating the rights-based approach to health care....

Why India Should Learn From Verdict Of The Brazilian Court Declaring Use Of Asbestos As Unconstitutional

Even “controlled use of asbestos” is  deemed unconstitutional“I lost my mother due to mesothelioma for no fault of hers. we have not used asbestos at all however it seems the fibers have spread in the environment. Only those who have suffered this dreadful disease can know the pain and we have seen my mother go through enormous pain during these years. I stay in mumbai and yes i have the medical records. There is no cure for mesothelioma and i hope one day we find it.”-----Amit Kumar Jain,...

The Supreme Court’s Right to Privacy Judgment – VI: Limitations

In the first two posts in this series, we discussed the conceptual foundations of the Supreme Court’s right to privacy judgment. In the next three posts, we discussed the Court’s treatment of the three prongs of privacy identified by it: bodily and mental privacy, informational self-determination, and decisional autonomy. This brings us to the next aspect of the judgment: the Court’s articulation of limitations upon the right to privacy.At the bar, it was common cause between the Petitioners and...