Right to Privacy verdict: CPI welcomes decision, says govt should respect people's right to dignity and life

New Delhi: Welcoming the Supreme Court verdict upholding the Right to Privacy as a fundamental right, the CPI on Thursday said that the Centre should take it “positively” and respect people’s right to dignity and life. “We welcome the significant verdict. The government should take it positively and amend its position (on the issue)…It should respect the right to privacy, right to dignity and life,” CPI national secretary D Raja said. [caption id=“attachment_3924933” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of the Supreme Court of India. PTI[/caption] Raja alleged the government did not respond to views expressed by the Opposition parties when the issues relating to Aadhaar were discussed by the Parliament in its last sitting and said it was bent on linking the unique identity number to “everything”. “Now, in the light of Supreme Court verdict, the government should respect the right to privacy,” he added. Meanwhile, Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Constitution architect BR Ambedkar, seconded Raja on the issue and said the verdict will stop the country from becoming a “banana republic”. Prakash, who leads a political party called Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, said in a statement that the judgement will help stop “blackmailing”, which he said could have been possible due to linking of Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts and making it mandatory while filing income tax returns. In a landmark verdict, the Right to Privacy was on Thursday declared a fundamental right under the Constitution by the Supreme Court, which said “privacy is the constitutional core of human dignity”. The judgement, which will have a bearing on the lives of all Indians, said that “the right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution.” The top court also ruled that like other fundamental rights, the right to privacy was not absolute and any encroachment will have to withstand the touchstone of permissible restrictions.