The Union minister holding the twin portfolios - law and justice, as well as information technology – Ravi Shankar Prasad has garnered wide-scale ridicule for his comment that the government was after all for the fundamental right to privacy. In fact, in a press conference , and in a series of tweets, Union minister Prasad has tried mollycoddling the citizens of India into forgetting how the BJP-led Centre would go down in history as the one which birthed the (in)famous line: “Citizens don’t have absolute right over their bodies”, and extension of “privacy isn’t a fundamental right”.
Thank you so much dear Modiji ???????????? pic.twitter.com/hvHOP2aV0w
— James Wilson (@jamewils) August 24, 2017
Prasad has, in a series of tweets, tried to sound reasonable over the privacy verdict, saying that the government was supporting privacy as a right, but with reasonable restrictions. His tweets, as well as the press conference in which the Centre has tried to whitewash its attempts to encroach into citizens’ fundamental rights, are an exercise in acute irony.
Govt was of the view that #RightToPrivacy should be a fundamental right.
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) August 24, 2017
LIVE from 3 PM: Press conference by Union Minister @rsprasad, on Supreme Court verdict on #RightToPrivacy https://t.co/99S17ctxL9
— PIB India (@PIB_India) August 24, 2017
We welcome all the principles laid down by Supreme Court in the #RightToPrivacy verdict.
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) August 24, 2017
#Aadhaar during UPA regime had no protection of law.We made Aadhaar law & provided legal framework for protection its data. #RightToPrivacy
— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) August 24, 2017
Even a fundamental #RightToPrivacy has limitations, that need to be identified on case-to-case basis: @rsprasad quoting a judgement pic.twitter.com/IlZ3QOjOn6
— PIB India (@PIB_India) August 24, 2017
It’s important to recall that the written submissions as well the arguments made in court before the nine-judge Supreme Court constitution bench have been all about combating the relentless assaults from the Centre on the fundamental rights of citizens, as it mandated Aadhaar for almost every public amenity, even though the Aadhaar Act itself held it as a voluntary proof of identity. This resulted in exclusions, surveillance, data leak, heightened concerns about digital surveillance, censorship and many other gruelling problems impacting millions.
Hi @rsprasad pic.twitter.com/Egfn92g4IM
— Dushyant (@atti_cus) August 24, 2017
Release of Govt's statement on #SupremeCourt verdict on #RightToPrivacy, by Law & IT Minister @rsprasad pic.twitter.com/ju4HWpTxq0
— Frank Noronha (@DG_PIB) August 24, 2017
Precisely why, the Centre’s statement on the privacy verdict is so misleading, full of equivocations and attempts to claim credit where it clearly tried to erect massive obstructions. Once again, in typical BJP style, the Modi-led Centre has decided to pin it entirely on the Congress and UPA regime.
2015 NDA tried make Aadhaar mandatory SC limitd it to voluntary, in 6 schemesNDA argues no right to privacy 2016 Pushes Aadhaar MoneyBill https://t.co/L2q1nWQoOb
— Rethink Aadhaar (@no2uid) August 24, 2017
While Aadhaar was a UPA brainchild, it assume its draconian proportions under the NDA. The push for biometric identity bulldozed existing laws – even the Aadhaar Act itself – and tried riding roughshod on the fundamental rights of citizens. In denying right to privacy, the Aadhaar juggernaut discriminated rampantly between those who had Aadhaar and those who didn’t, almost criminalising those who refused to link Aadhaar to their PAN for filing income tax returns.
We welcome the judgment of the Supreme Court affirming the Right to Privacy as a fundamental right #No2UID #AadhaarNahiSudhaar pic.twitter.com/9LZzpFkEgw
— Rethink Aadhaar (@no2uid) August 24, 2017
No wonder then RS Prasad and the government got major rebuke from the privacy activists and generally everyone on the right side of the privacy debate on Twitter. The microblogging site had a field day making fun of the joke that the Centre has turned itself to.
FACTUALLY INCORRECT. This case went to a 9 judge bench because govt argued that privacy isn't a fundamental right. https://t.co/I7A3Jpt6GH
— Nikhil Pahwa (@nixxin) August 24, 2017
You cant blame the Government. The Government wasn't aware about the views of the Government https://t.co/bnmrleEDbn
— Joy (@Joydas) August 24, 2017
This is the longest typo I have ever seen... https://t.co/bBlgZjpsO8
— Kabir Taneja (@KabirTaneja) August 24, 2017
RS Prasad passes off AG's remark to SC opposing #RightToPrivacy arguments as court room banter!Seriously?!
— Jaskirat Singh Bawa (@JaskiratSB) August 24, 2017
Media should resign for not reporting this https://t.co/TYS87JNnuC
— Mihir Sharma (@mihirssharma) August 24, 2017
Revisionist history has always been a special skill of your party @rsprasad https://t.co/zUophl1IyT
— Mihira Sood (@mihira_sood) August 24, 2017
You mean the governments that have ratified the European Charter/Convention, yes. That's right. (see Art 7/8) https://t.co/LP5OKlBEpT https://t.co/CfAWI9jxJV
— Salil Tripathi (@saliltripathi) August 24, 2017
Which part of "fundamental right" does the minister need explained with clip art and using words of no more than two syllables? https://t.co/4eyhgKZ9K5
— Prem Panicker (@prempanicker) August 24, 2017
However, the bigger picture should be about what the government intends to do henceforth, now that it has been dealt a comprehensive blow in its attempts to browbeat civil liberties. For example, even though decks have been cleared for the curative petition on Section 377 as the 2013 SEC judgement has been substantially panned in the privacy verdict, without the government’s go-ahead, it cannot be achieved.
Similarly, the implications of the privacy judgement on beef ban, DNA Profiling Bill, Aadhaar itself, national security-driven intrusions, censorship, online speech, internet shutdowns etc, must be worked out, but at every point it’s going to be a citizens versus State battle.