The Supreme Court on Tuesday set up a 9-judge bench to examine whether right to privacy is a fundamental right under Constitution. The 9-judge SC bench headed by CJI JS Khehar will start hearing from Wednesday.

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Is privacy a fundamental right? Supreme Court to decide

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday set up a 9-judge bench to examine whether right to privacy is a fundamental right under Constitution.The SC decision to form the 9-judge bench came while hearing petitions onof PAN card with Aadhaar The 9-judge SC bench headed by CJI JS Khehar will start hearing from Wednesday.The apex court had agreed to set up a 5-judge bench on July 12 to deal with the Aadhaar-related matters after attorney general K K Venugopal and senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for petitioners who have challenged the government's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for various public welfare schemes, had jointly mentioned the matters.Importantly, the Centre said in the SC that right to privacy is a common law right and not a fundamental right recognised by the constitution.An 8-judge bench in 1954 and a 6-judge bench in 1962 had ruled that right to privacy is not a fundamental right. The Centre relied on these two verdicts and had taken a stand that no PIL could be filed to challenge validity of Aadhaar on ground of violation of fundamental rights.