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Explaining Origins
The significance of Justice J Chelameswar’s concurring judgment in the Puttaswamy case is that it seeks to address the source of the Supreme Court’s power. It seeks to give a working jurisprudential model of the constitutional universe that was rendered into chaos by the manner of birth of the basic structure doctrine in the Kesavananda Bharati case. By fitting in with the concept of constitutional autochthony, “dark matter” offers an opportunity for restructuring our own understanding of the Constitution.
It would not be an understatement to say that the six concurring judgments of the Supreme Court in K Puttaswamy v Union of India (2017a) have unanimously and together expanded the known universe and exponentially increased the future possibilities of our Constitution. The main judgment of Justice D Y Chandrachud (on behalf of himself, Chief Justice J S Khehar, and Justices Abdul Nazeer and R K Agrawal) and the separate concurring judgment of Justice R F Nariman are clinical and remarkable for their clarity on the historical, structural, ethical, and doctrinal aspects of the right to privacy.
They seek, and succeed, in offering a comprehensive restatement of the right to privacy and settle many related constitutional controversies and inconsistencies. The importance of Justice S K Kaul’s concurring judgment is that it agrees with most of the findings and provides the crucial fifth vote for securing many of the practical consequences, such as the overruling of the atrocious judgment in Suresh Kumar Koushal v Naz Foundation (2014).
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