Giving basic personal info can't be covered under right to privacy, Gujarat tells SC

New Delhi: The Gujarat government today told the Supreme Court that transparency is a key component in the technological era and providing basic personal information could not be covered under the right to privacy. A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar has been grappling with the contentious issue whether right to privacy can be held as fundamental right under the Constitution. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for Gujarat government, said that some aspects of privacy may be traced to various fundamental rights but providing basic personal information to authorities was needed to bring more transparency in the present technological era. He then referred to the Supreme Court rules which make it mandatory for lawyers to part with various personal information for filing a private interest litigation. "Your lordships are marching forward with technology by seeking various personal information under the rules," Dwivedi said. He then referred to the fact that personal information like names, address, telephone number, occupation and national unique ID cards, if any, are being sought by the apex court for allowing a litigant to file a PIL before it. The bench, however, said that personal information has to be used for the intended purpose only. The hearing in the matter will continue after lunch. Yesterday the apex court had said that there has to be "overarching" guidelines to protect an individual's private information in public domain to ensure that it was used only for an intended purpose. The bench also comprises justices J Chelameswar, S A Bobde, R K Agrawal, Rohinton Fali Nariman, Abhay Manohar Sapre, D Y Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer.