Right to Privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty. Which of the following in the Constitution of India correctly and appropriately imply the above statement?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) Article 21 and the freedoms guaranteed in Part III
In Justice K. S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (24 August 2017), a nine-judge Supreme Court bench held privacy to be a Fundamental Right. It flows from Article 21, which protects life and personal liberty, and from the freedoms in Part III taken together. Only option (c) names both.
- ✓ (c) Article 21 says no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except by procedure established by law. In Puttaswamy the Court read privacy into this Article and into the wider Part III freedoms.
- ✗ (a) Article 14 is equality before law, and the 42nd Amendment (1976) has no provision on privacy; neither is the source of the right.
- ✗ (b) Article 17 abolishes untouchability, and Directive Principles in Part IV are not enforceable rights; privacy was held to be a Fundamental Right.
- ✗ (d) Article 24 bars employment of children in factories and similar hazardous work; the 44th Amendment (1978) does not create the right to privacy.
Remember · Privacy is a Fundamental Right, grounded in Article 21 and the Part III freedoms (Puttaswamy, 2017, nine judges).
Sources
- Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India, (2017) 10 SCC 1, headnote (Supreme Court of India) ↗ “Right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Art.21 and as a part of the freedom guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution”
- Constitution of India, Article 21 (Legislative Department, Government of India) ↗ “Protection of life and personal liberty.—No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·