SC ruling on digital accessibility as part of right to life and liberty can bridge the digital divide

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment in the ‘Pragya Prasun vs Union of India’ and ‘Amar Jain vs Union of India’ cases, declaring the right to digital access as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. Authored by Justice R Mahadevan, and pronounced by a bench including Justice J B Pardiwala, the ruling addressed the exclusion of persons with disabilities, particularly acid attack survivors and visually impaired individuals, from digital KYC (eKYC) processes.