SC stays Madras HC order on thumb impression of J Jayalalithaa

The high court, while dealing with an election petition, had on November 24 sought Jayalalithaa's thumb impression details which is available with Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara Jail and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The former AIADMK chief had died on December 5 last year.

The high court had asked the authorities to give the fingerprint details by on Friday in a matter relating to an election petition filed by P Saravanan, a DMK candidate for the November 2016 Thirupparankundram Assembly bypoll, challenging the election of AIADMK's A K Bose.

The matter came up for hearing on Friday before a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, which also issued notice to the petitioner before the high court and asked him to file a reply within eight weeks. The bench said there would be "stay of operation" on the high court's order. Bose has moved the apex court against the high court's direction claiming it intruded into the fundamental right to privacy.

"Her death does not make any difference as right to privacy is available to every citizen during his/her life time and even after the death of that person," the plea said.