Under which of the following Articles of the Constitution of India, has the Supreme Court of India placed the Right to Privacy?

Answer: (d) Article 21

K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017), nine judges: privacy is intrinsic to life and personal liberty under Article 21, and also part of the freedoms in Part III.

The idea

Article 21 is the Court’s favourite home for new rights: livelihood, shelter, clean environment, speedy trial, legal aid, dignity, privacy (2017), marrying a person of one’s choice (Shafin Jahan, 2018).

Why the others are wrong

(a) Art. 15 bars discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

(b) Art. 16 is equality of opportunity in public employment.

(c) Art. 19 freedoms support privacy in parts, but the Court rooted it in Art. 21.

The trap

Art. 19 sounds right because privacy feels like a “freedom”. The Court’s anchor is Art. 21.