Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India
(2017) 10 SCC 1 · 9-judge bench (unanimous)
Challenges to the Aadhaar biometric-ID scheme raised a foundational question the Court had never definitively settled: is there a fundamental right to privacy under the Constitution at all?
A unanimous 9-judge bench held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right, protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21, and as part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III generally.
This is the constitutional foundation later relied on in the decriminalisation of homosexuality (Navtej Johar) and the transgender self-identification ruling (NALSA had already touched on dignity, but Puttaswamy made privacy itself explicit) — one ruling that reshaped multiple areas of personal-autonomy law.
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Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India
This single ruling transformed Article 21 from a narrow procedural guarantee into the foundation for almost every major personal-liberty right the Supreme Court has recognised since (privacy, dignity, livelihood, a clean environment, and more all trace back to this expanded reading).
Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India
Ended over 150 years of criminalisation of consensual same-sex relationships in India — though, as Supriyo v. Union of India (2023) later clarified, this decriminalisation didn't extend to marriage recognition, which the Court left to Parliament.
This is a plain-English summary, not verbatim judgment text. Adhikar is an independent citizen-awareness platform, not a Government of India website. Always verify against the full judgment (indiankanoon.org, sci.gov.in) or a qualified advocate before relying on this for an actual legal situation.