Digital access intrinsic to right to life, says SC

Holding that the right to digital access is included in the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre, RBI and the other authorities to make the process of digital KYC accessible to the disabled, particularly those with facial disfigurement and visual disabilities.

“In the contemporary era, where access to essential services, governance, education, healthcare and economic opportunities is increasingly mediated through digital platforms, the right to life under Article 21 must be reinterpreted,” a Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan said.

Noting that the principle of substantive equality demanded digital transformation to be both inclusive and equitable, the top court issued a set of 20 directions to the Centre and different public entities to make the digital KYC process more inclusive.

It said, “…persons with disabilities encounter unique barriers in accessing online services due to the lack of accessible websites, applications and assistive technologies. Similarly, individuals in remote or rural areas often face poor connectivity, limited digital literacy and a scarcity of content in regional languages, effectively denying them meaningful access to e-governance and welfare delivery systems.”

Writing the verdict for the Bench, Justice Mahadevan said, “The digital divide — characterised by unequal access to digital infrastructure, skills, and content — continues to perpetuate systemic exclusion, not only of persons with disabilities, but also of large sections of rural populations, senior citizens, economically weaker communities and linguistic minorities.”

The Bench said, “Bridging the digital divide is no longer merely a matter of policy discretion but has become a constitutional imperative to secure a life of dignity, autonomy and equal participation in public life. The right to digital access, therefore, emerges as an intrinsic component of the right to life and liberty, necessitating that the state proactively design and implement inclusive digital ecosystems that serve not only the privileged but also the marginalised, those who have been historically excluded.”

In such circumstances, the Bench said, “The state’s obligations under Article 21— read in conjunction with Articles 14,15 (right to equality and non-discrimination) and 38 (state’s obligation to promote welfare of the people) — must encompass the responsibility to ensure that digital infrastructure, government portals, online learning platforms and financial technologies are universally accessible, inclusive and responsive to the needs of all vulnerable and marginalized populations.”

The top court directed various ministries to ask all regulating authorities — government or private — to follow accessibility standards as prescribed from time to time and appoint a nodal officer in every department responsible for digital accessibility compliance.

It also ordered the RBI to issue guidelines on introducing alternative modes for verifying the “liveness” or capturing a “live photograph” of the customers for digital KYC beyond the traditional “blinking of eyes” and ensure that the entities had customer due diligence and the on-boarding of new customers could be done using the video-based KYC process, in line with the 2016 KYC provisions in which blinking of the eyes was not mandatory.

It ordered the setting up of a dedicated grievance redressal mechanism for persons with disabilities to report accessibility issues.

The verdict came on two petitions — one filed by Pragya Prasun and others — acid attack victims who suffer from facial disfigurement and severe eye burns — and the other by Amar Jain suffering from 100 per cent blindness.

They had sought directions to formulate appropriate rules and guidelines for conducting the digital KYC/ e-KYC/video KYC process through alternative methods, with a view to ensuring that the process was more inclusive and accessible to all persons with disabilities.