Govt welcomes SC verdict on right to privacy

New Delhi, Aug 24: The Centre today welcomed the Supreme Court's ruling holding privacy as a Fundamental Right, saying the top court has only "affirmed" the government's position on this issue.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that the court has said that right to privacy is not absolute and is subject to reasonable restrictions.

"The Supreme Court has affirmed what the government had said in Parliament while moving the Aadhar Bill. Privacy should be a fundamental right subject to reasonable restrictions," Prasad said.

Reacting to the assertion of the Congress that the verdict was a rejection of the BJP's ideology of "suppression through surveillance", Prasad tweeted: "What has been the record of the #Congress in protecting individual liberties was seen during Emergency."

A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar today ruled that "right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution".