In a Historic landmark judgment, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously held that right to privacy is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

A nine-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar along with other members of the bench were justice J Chelameswar, justice RK Agarwal, justice SA Bobde, justice AM Sapre, justice RF Nariman, justice DY Chandrachud, justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and justice S Abdul Nazeer ruled on Thursday that privacy is a fundamental right, a judgment that will have a bearing on civil rights as well as Aadhaar. The judgment was unanimous.

The verdict is a “Warning of institutions of democracy to government of PM Modi”, says Salman Khurshid, Congress leader and SC advocate.

Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has rejected suggestions that the programme, set up in 2009, poses a threat to civil liberties despite personal data being leaked in security breaches.

In May, then attorney general Mukul Rohatgi rejected suggestions that Indians could refuse to provide their iris scans or fingerprints to the government, telling a court “the concept of absolute right over one’s body was a myth”.

The verdict may have a bearing on the government’s Aadhaar scheme that makes compulsory linking of the unique biometric identity with bank accounts, PAN , income tax returns and for availing government benefits.