National Seminar on Changing Dimensions of the Right to Privacy in India
Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi is going to organize the National Seminar on Changing Dimensions of the Right to Privacy in India
Date: 25th - 26th March, 2018
Venue: Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
About the Seminar:
The right to privacy has been interpreted as an unarticulated fundamental right under the Constitution of India. However, through various judgments over the years, Indian courts have interpreted the other rights in the Constitution as giving rise to a (limited) right to privacy primarily through Article 21, the right to life and liberty. In 2015, this interpretation was challenged and referred to a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court in the Justice K.S Puttaswamy & another vs. Union of India & others ((2014) 6 SCC 433) categorically held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It will be accorded the same protection as other fundamental rights under Part III of the Constitution.
Judiciary in India enjoys a significant position since it has been made the guardian and custodian of the Constitution. It is not only a watch-dog against violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution but protects all persons, Indian and aliens alike, against discrimination, abuse of state power, arbitrariness etc. Liberty and Equality have well survived and thrived in India due to the pro-active role played by the Indian Judiciary. The Supreme Court has over the years, elaborated the scope of fundamental rights upholding the rights and dignity of individual, in true spirit of good governance. The great contribution of judicial activism in India has been to provide a safety value and a hope that justice is not beyond doubt.
Right to Privacy in India has been a contentious issue in recent years and it concerns the lives of many people around the world. Right to privacy is not a constitutionally but a judicially recognized right. In our country, the sole credit goes to the Judiciary for recognizing the concept of privacy because neither the constitution nor any other statute in our country defined this concept. Still a lot more has to be done for the recognition and protection of privacy by law in India. As a matter of fact, this concept is quiet in primitive stage of its development. This Seminar endeavor to focus on the impact of declaring privacy as a fundamental right, the impact on private entities (non-state parties) and the potential impact on the anticipated privacy law.
Objective of the Seminar:
The Right to Privacy per se is not a specifically guaranteed fundamental right under the Constitution of India, however the apex court has time and again interpreted it indirectly as a part and parcel of fundamental rights. There have been instances in various cases decided by the apex court. The right to privacy in India has come a long way from the decision given in Kharak Singh's case (Kharak Singh Vs. Sate of U.P. (AIR 1963 SC 1295)) which was one of the first instances which incorporated right to privacy with as an integral part of right to life and personal liberty to the most recent judgment in Justice K.S Puttaswamy & another Vs. Union of India, wherein the apex court unanimously held that the right to privacy is fundamental right protected under the Constitution.
Subsequently, this right has come under the radar of reasonable restrictions under Article 19 (2) and with the different facets of this right been invoked by a plethora of judgments including the areas like privacy in communications, freedom of movement, physical privacy and mental privacy, unique identification number related privacy, etc., there are still different facets of the right which need to be established. With the DNA Profiling Bill, reconsideration of validity of Section 377 and LGBT rights, Euthanasia and abortion, Marital rape again the discussion relating to right to privacy has come on the forefront. This Seminar is therefore an attempt to analyse the right to privacy from different perspectives and check the status of this right. The proposed objective of the seminar are:
- To understand the various facets of Right to Privacy in India
- To determine the scope of Right to Privacy which can be guaranteed
- To analyse the significance of technological advancements on the restrictions on Right to Privacy
- To analyse the effect of DNA profiling, biometric identification, etc. on the criminal liability on the accused.
- To the needs of and the opportunities and dangers posed to liberty in a digital world.
The present seminar has been conceptualized with the basic objective of taking stock of the progress made by India in the sphere of law, and creates a space for discussion on all matters pertaining to legal issues concerning privacy.
In this background there is an incessant call to hold public debate through seminars, conference, workshops, symposia and discussion to elicit valuable inputs from the ground so as to effectively answer whether there is a need of recognition of right to privacy as Fundamental Rights for achieving the social unity and solidarity of the nation as envisaged by the Preamble of the Indian Constitution?
This National Seminar offers an opportunity to experts from various disciplines, be they are, Researchers, Academicians, Policymakers, Government Organization, Law Experts, International Lawyers, Judges, Negotiators, Diplomats, Government Representatives, National Organizations, Media Representatives, Non-Governmental Organization and Students to come together and share their valuable thoughts, impression and research studies on the following issues relating to majors themes of Privacy Laws in India:
- Bodily Privacy (Privacy of the physical body against violations and restraints of bodily movement)
- Spacial Privacy (Privacy of a space, such as family life and intimate relations)
- Communicational Privacy (Right against access to communication, or control over it)
- Proprietary Privacy (Right to use property as a means to shield facts or information)
- Intellectual Privacy (Privacy of thought, mind, opinions and beliefs)
- Decisional Privacy (The ability to make intimate decisions)
- Associational Privacy (Privacy of the choice of who to interact with)
- Behavioural Privacy (The ability to control the extent of access even while conducting publicly visible activities)
- Informational Privacy (An interest in preventing information about the self from being dissemination, and controlling the extent of access to the information)
On the above-mentioned objectives and related areas, the sub-themes are mentioned below:
- Concept of Right to Privacy
- Right to Identity vis-à-vis Right to Privacy
- Data Privacy
- DNA Profiling and Right to Privacy
- Implication of the Right to Privacy Judgement (Justice K.S Puttaswamy & another Vs. Union of India)
- Viability of the Right to Privacy in India
- Judicial Trends in Right to Privacy
The above themes are indicative and the Author can send the article on any topic related to the broad theme of the Seminar.
Call for Papers:
Seminar papers are invited from the academicians, practitioners, researchers, scholars and students on the issues related to the above themes. It is also proposed that the selected papers by the Committee will be published in a special volume on the seminar in the form of an edited book with ISBN No. Author of selected papers would be given an opportunity to present their papers as per requirement of the theme during sessions on the day of the seminar.
Submission Guidelines:
Interested Authors should submit an abstract of their original research / conceptual papers and empirical studies / case studies briefly describing objectives, methodology, major results and its implications in about 300 - 350 words. All Abstracts will be peer reviewed and evaluated before final acceptance. Authors of accepted Abstracts will be invited to submit and present full paper at the seminar. Accepted Abstract are likely to be published in the souvenir of the projected Seminar.
The length of the full papers should normally not exceed about 5000 words (excluding tables, figures, illustrations and references etc.) and it must be typed in Times New Roman, font size 12 pt on A4 size paper with 1" margin on all sides with 1.5 line spacing using MS Word. The Blue Book: A Uniform System of Citation (19th Edition) must be strictly adhered to while submitting the Abstract and Full papers.
All the Abstracts and Full-length papers shall be sent as an attachment to: nationalseminar.fol@jmi.ac.in
Registration Fees:
Participants willing to attend the seminar should fill the enclosed Registration Form and submit it latest by 20th March, 2018. Filled-in registration form can be sent electronically or by post. Registration Fees can only be paid in cash at the Registration Desks on the inaugural day at the venue (Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi).
- Academicians: Rs. 750/-
- Professionals (NGOs / Media Persons / Policymakers): Rs. 1000/-
- Research Scholars: Rs. 500/-
- Students: Rs. 250/-
- Foreign Delegates: US$ 50
On the spot registration will also be available at Registration Desk on the day of the seminar. No TA/DA will be paid to participants.
Important Dates:
Last date for Submission of Abstracts by Post /Email (Softcopy): |
5th March, 2018 |
Intimation on Selection of the Abstract: |
6th March, 2018 |
Last date for Submission of Full Paper: |
15th March, 2018 |
Contact:
Dr. Faizanur Rahman
Assistant Professor
Phone: +91-8348333999
Ms. Sayantika Ganguly
Phone: +91-9873546287
The Dean, Faculty of Law,
Jamia Millia Islamia
New Delhi-110025
Email: nationalseminar.fol@jmi.ac.in
Website: www.jmi.ac.in
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