The legal position regarding the existence of a ‘fundamental right to privacy’ is doubtful in view of the Judgments in M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh.

In Justice K.S. Puttasamy (Retd.) v. Union of India, [Writ Petition No. 494 of 2012] the warning is clear: “If the observations made in M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh are to be read literally and accepted as the law of this country, the fundamental rights guaranteed under The Constitution of India and more particularly the ‘right to liberty’ under Article 21 would be denuded of vigour and vitality.”

Was there a need for this obiter? Especially when you observe too: “It is better that the ratio decidendi of M.P. Sharma and Kharak Singh is scrutinized and the jurisprudential correctness of the subsequent decisions of this Court where the ‘right to privacy’ is either asserted or referred be examined and authoritatively decided by a Bench of appropriate strength.”