The Right to Privacy in India and UN Human Rights Instruments

Abstract

The Indian judiciary has played a pivotal role in aligning constitutional rights with international human rights norms, particularly those enshrined in United Nations instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Although India follows a dualist legal system requiring parliamentary approval for international treaties to have domestic effect the courts have creatively invoked these instruments to interpret and expand fundamental rights under the Constitution.  This judicial innovation is particularly evident in the evolving right to privacy. Though not explicitly stated in the Constitution, the Supreme Court, in People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India, invoked the ICCPR to uphold the privacy rights of individuals, citing Article 17 which protects against arbitrary interference with privacy. This paved the way for the landmark decision in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India^[1], where the Court unanimously recognized the right to privacy as an intrinsic part of the rights to life and personal liberty under Article 21, and linked it to the dignity and autonomy guaranteed by Articles 14 and 19. The UDHR, while not legally binding, has served as a guiding framework for the judiciary. This interpretive reliance on global norms reflects India’s commitment under Article 51(c) of the Constitution to respect international law and treaty obligations. This paper examines how Indian courts have used such international standards to give constitutional rights a broader and more dynamic interpretation, particularly in case of right to privacy. It concludes that international human rights instruments, including the UDHR, have significantly enriched India’s human rights jurisprudence, especially in affirming privacy as a fundamental and evolving right.