SC verdict slap on Centre's attempts of suppression through surveillance: Cong

Congress on Thursday said the Supreme Court verdict upholding the right to privacy was a tight slap on the Modi government's unbridled encroachment and surveillance on the lives of the common man.
 
“It strikes a blow on the unbridled encroachment & surveillance by the state and its agencies in the life of the common man,” Congress President Sonia Gandhi said adding that the judgment heralded a new era for individual rights, personal liberty and human dignity.
 
Gandhi also credited other opposition parties who stood together in court and in Parliament to speak out for the right to privacy and dignity of all Indians against the arrogant attempts of the present government to curtail them.
 
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said the apex Court decision marked a “major blow to the fascist forces. “A sound rejection of BJP's ideology of suppression through surveillance,” Rahul said welcoming the Court decision as a “victory for every Indian”.
 
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury termed the judgment as “far reaching” that will have consequences in various domains as technology played a greater role in the lives of the common man.
 
“This landmark judgment should pave the way to protect, in this world of technology advance dominated by corporates, misuse of private data and infringing upon the privacy of individuals,” the CPI(M) Polit Bureau said in a statement.
 
Congress fielded a battery of lawyer-politicians to welcome the apex Court verdict. Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the judgment was a “setback” to the Modi government that had argued against privacy is a fundamental right.
 
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the judgment was a tight slap on the face of the government that had argued in court that an individual does not have the right over his body, and eyes.
 
Chidambaram said the judgment will pave the way for to have a second look at the Supreme Court ruling of 2013 on Article 377, that had criminalised gay sex.