Aug 24, 2017 1:43 pm (IST)

Apart from Section 377, Supreme Court's Right to Privacy verdict also has far-reaching impact on euthanasia and the debate surrounding abortions. Here’s what Justice Chelameshwar's verdict says on both issues:

ON EUTHANASIA | “It is sufficient to go by the understanding that the right to privacy consists of three facets i.e. repose, sanctuary and intimate decision. Each of these facets is so essential for the liberty of human beings that I see no reason to doubt that the right to privacy is part of the liberty guaranteed by our Constitution…. An individual’s rights to refuse life prolonging medical treatment or terminate his life is another freedom which fall within the zone of the right of privacy.”

ON ABORTION | “A woman’s freedom of choice whether to bear a child or abort her pregnancy are areas which fall in the realm of privacy…. To sanctify an argument that whatever is not found in the text of the Constitution cannot become a part of the Constitution would be too primitive an understanding of the Constitution and contrary to settled cannons of constitutional interpretation. Such an approach regarding the rights and liberties of citizens would be an affront to the collective wisdom of our people and the wisdom of the members of the Constituent Assembly…. Constitution is not merely a document signed by 284 members of the Constituent Assembly. It is a politically sacred instrument created by men and women who risked lives and sacrificed their liberties to fight alien rulers and secured freedom for our people, not only of their generation but generations to follow. The Constitution cannot be seen as a document written in ink to replace one legal regime by another.”