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(1) The right to privacy is implicit in the right to life and liberty guaranteed to the citizens of this country by Article 21. It is a "right to be let alone." A citizen has a right to safeguard the privacy of his own, his family, marriage, procreation, motherhood, Child-bearing and education among other matters. None can publish anything covering the above matters without his consent - whether truthful or otherwise and whether laudatory or critical. If he does so, he would be violating the right to privacy of the person concerned and would be liable in an action for damages. Position may, however, be different, if a person voluntarily thrusts himself into controversy or voluntarily invites or raises a controversy.

26. As one of the basic Human Rights, the right of privacy is not treated as absolute and is subject to such action as may be lawfully taken for the prevention of crime or disorder or protection of health or morals or protection of rights and freedoms of others.

27. Right of privacy may, apart form contract, also arise out of a particular specific relationship which may be commercial, matrimonial, or even political.

As already discussed above, doctor-patient relationship, though basically commercial, is, professionally, a mater of confidence and, therefore, doctors are morally and ethically bound to maintain confidentiality. In such a situation, public disclosure of even true private facts may amount to an invasion of the right of privacy which may sometimes lead to the clash of one person's "right to be let alone" with anther person's right to informed.

19. From the aforesaid the conclusion can conveniently be drawn, viz,, that right of privacy though a fundamental right, forming part of right to life enshrined under Article 21 can not be taken to be an absolute right. The right of privacy may arise from contract and also may arise from a particular specific relationship including matrimonial but when the right to privacy has become a part of a public document, in that event a person concerned, indeed can not insist that any such test would infringe his/her right of privacy.

20. The position herein can again be taken note of. As already referred to above, the foetus is no more a part of the body of the petitioner. The petitioner indeed has a right of privacy but it being not an absolute right, therefore, when a foetus has been preserved in All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the petitioner, who has already discharged the same can not claim that it affects her right of privacy. Adultery has been alleged to be one of the grounds of divorce. At this state, the court is not expressing any opinion on merits of the matter, but the petitioner indeed can not resist the request of respondent No. 1. However, if the petitioner was being compelled to subject herself to blood test or otherwise, she indeed could raise a defense that she can not be compelled to be a witness against herself in a criminal case or compelled to give evidence against her own even in a civil case but the position herein is different. The petitioner is not being compelled to do any such act. Something that she herself has discharged, probably with her consent, is claimed to be subjected to DNA test. In that view of the matter, in the peculiar facts, it can not be termed that the petitioner has any right of privacy.