The SCO team, as part of its ‘Supreme Court in the Classroom’ series, made a presentation at the St. John’s Medical College, Bengaluru on the right to privacy and how it came about to occupy a place in the Indian Constitution. The session was attended by the first year undergraduate students of the College and was broadly divided into three parts: (i) what is a constitution? (ii) what does the Indian Constitution contain? and (iii) the right to privacy in the Indian Constitution.

The session started off with an overview of the role of a constitution in the efficient functioning of a society. This was followed by a brief outline of the Indian Constitution and the role of the Supreme Court in upholding it. Thereafter, students were introduced to the landmark Supreme Court decision in Puttaswamy, which upheld the right to privacy, and how it is relevant to the medical profession.

In order to convey the essence of the presentation in an easy and relatable manner, students were asked to critically engage with the Indian Constitution and apply it to various factual scenarios. Towards this, a number of practice exercises were undertaken. Particularly, students were asked to locate the right to privacy in the Indian Constitution and apply it to case scenarios, relevant to their professional lives.