New Delhi, Jul 26 (PTI) Four non-BJP ruled states, including Karnataka and West Bengal, today moved the Supreme Court seeking to intervene in the ongoing hearing on the issue of whether the Right to Privacy can be declared as one of the Fundamental Rights under the Constitution.

New Delhi, Jul 26 (PTI) Four non-BJP ruled states,
including Karnataka and West Bengal, today moved the Supreme
Court seeking to intervene in the ongoing hearing on the issue
of whether the Right to Privacy can be declared as one of the
Fundamental Rights under the Constitution.
    Besides Karnataka and West Bengal, two Congress-led
states of Punjab and Puducherry took a stand opposite to the
Central government which had said that Right to Privacy is a
common law right and not a Fundamental Right.
    Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the four
states, initiated his arguments before a nine-judge
Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar and said
that in the light of technological advancement, the court is
needed to take a fresh look on the Right to Privacy and its
contours in the modern day.
    "Privacy cannot be an absolute right. But it is a
Fundamental Right. This court needs to strike a balance," he
submitted before the bench also comprising Justices J
Chelameswar, S A Bobde, R K Agrawal, Rohinton Fali Nariman,
Abhay Manohar Sapre, D Y Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S
Abdul Nazeer.
    The hearing is in progress.
    The apex court had on July 18 set up the Constitution
bench after the matter was referred to a larger bench by a
five-judge bench.
    The petitioners had claimed that collection and sharing
of biometric information, as required under the Aadhaar
scheme, was a breach of the "fundamental" right to privacy.
    The Centre had on July 19 submitted in the apex court
that Right to Privacy cannot fall in the bracket of
fundamental rights as there are binding decisions of larger
benches that it is only a common law right evolved through
judicial pronouncements. PTI