{"id":46452,"date":"2025-05-16T10:06:46","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T04:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=46452"},"modified":"2025-05-17T22:21:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T16:51:47","slug":"supreme-court-declares-digital-access-a-fundamental-right-under-article-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/supreme-court-declares-digital-access-a-fundamental-right-under-article-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Declares Right to Digital Access as a Fundamental Right Under Article 21"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Right to Digital Access Latest News<\/li>\n<li>Introduction<\/li>\n<li>Legal Framework Supporting Digital Rights<\/li>\n<li>The KYC Framework and Its Challenges<\/li>\n<li>Barriers Faced by Persons with Disabilities<\/li>\n<li>Supreme Court\u2019s Intervention and Verdict<\/li>\n<li>Broader Impact and Future Implications<\/li>\n<li>Conclusion<\/li>\n<li>Right to Digital Access FAQs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Right to Digital Access Latest News<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Recently, the Supreme Court directed revisions to Know-Your-Customer (KYC) digital norms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Introduction<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>On April 30, 2025, the Supreme Court of India made a landmark interpretation of Article 21 by affirming the <strong>Right to Digital Access<\/strong> as a component of the fundamental <strong>Right to Life and Personal Liberty<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>This decision came in response to growing concerns over digital exclusion faced by <strong>persons with disabilities (PwDs)<\/strong>, particularly in relation to the mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) processes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Legal Framework Supporting Digital Rights<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>India\u2019s Constitution, through its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, and Directive Principles, emphasizes equality and dignity.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Strengthening these guarantees, the <strong>Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016<\/strong>, adopts a \u2018social barrier\u2019 approach, viewing disability not only as impairment but also as exclusion due to societal and infrastructural challenges.<\/li>\n<li>Section 42 of the RPwD Act obligates the government to ensure <strong>accessibility in all electronic media<\/strong>, including through sign language, captions, and universal design principles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The KYC Framework and Its Challenges<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Under the <strong>Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002<\/strong>, KYC is compulsory for financial transactions.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>RBI\u2019s Master Direction on KYC (2016)<\/strong> introduced digital verification methods like the <strong>Video-based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>This process requires users to:\n<ul>\n<li>Take selfies<\/li>\n<li>Write and scan physical forms<\/li>\n<li>Verify OTPs<\/li>\n<li>Read codes on screen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>While convenient for most users, these steps <strong>exclude visually impaired individuals and acid attack survivors<\/strong>, who struggle to complete visual-based authentication.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Barriers Faced by Persons with Disabilities<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Despite accessibility standards in the <strong>2021 and 2022 ICT Accessibility Guidelines<\/strong>, most KYC systems are non-compliant:\n<ul>\n<li>No screen reader support<\/li>\n<li>No audio cues for camera focus<\/li>\n<li>No alternative for selfie-based verification<\/li>\n<li>Thumb impressions often not accepted<\/li>\n<li>Aadhaar-based biometric systems lack accessibility features<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Blind or low-vision users are frequently forced to appear physically or are rejected on vague technical grounds.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Furthermore, RBI\u2019s directions disallow any \u201cprompting\u201d during video KYC, compounding the issue.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Supreme Court\u2019s Intervention and Verdict<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In its recent ruling, the Supreme Court emphasized that <strong>accessibility is a constitutional imperative<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Citing its 2024 verdict in <i><strong>Rajive Raturi vs Union of India<\/strong><\/i>, the Court reiterated that lack of digital accessibility <strong>violates Article 21<\/strong>, which guarantees life with dignity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Court anchored its judgment in<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Article 14 (Equality before Law)<\/li>\n<li>Article 15 (Prohibition of Discrimination)<\/li>\n<li>Article 21 (Right to Life and Liberty)<\/li>\n<li>Article 38 (Promoting Welfare of People)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>It directed the RBI, SEBI, and DoT to revise their KYC norms and digital infrastructures to align with <strong>principles of accessibility and substantive equality<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The judgment also highlighted that the digital divide affects not only PwDs but also <strong>rural populations, elderly citizens, economically weaker sections, and linguistic minorities<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Broader Impact and Future Implications<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The verdict expands the scope of Article 21, setting a precedent that <strong>digital access is not a privilege but a right<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>This could influence a broad range of sectors, from e-governance and education to healthcare and banking, to <strong>re-engineer digital platforms for universal accessibility<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The judgment also aligns India more closely with international obligations under the <strong>United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Supreme Court\u2019s affirmation of the <strong>Right to Digital Access under Article 21<\/strong> is a transformative step in India\u2019s legal and digital journey.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It redefines digital inclusion as a <strong>constitutional necessity<\/strong>, urging policymakers, regulators, and tech developers to build systems that <strong>leave no one behind<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Right to Digital Access FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1. <\/strong>What did the Supreme Court say about digital access?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> The SC held that digital access is part of the fundamental Right to Life under Article 21.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2.<\/strong> Why was the ruling on digital KYC significant?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> It addressed the exclusion of visually impaired persons from essential digital verification services.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3.<\/strong> Which law mandates accessibility for digital services in India?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016 mandates accessible design in digital systems.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4. <\/strong>What issues do PwDs face in current KYC systems?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> Lack of screen reader support, biometric alternatives, and prompting restrictions make it inaccessible.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q5.<\/strong> What constitutional articles did the SC rely on in its verdict?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> Articles 14, 15, 21, and 38 were cited to affirm the Right to Digital Access.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/does-article-21-include-right-to-digital-access-explained\/article69580767.ece#:~:text=Relying%20on%20Articles%2014%2C%2015,accessible%2C%20especially%20for%20marginalised%20communities.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that digital access is a core part of the Right to Life under Article 21, paving the way for inclusive KYC norms for persons with disabilities (PwDs).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":46453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-46452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}