Jurisprudential Study on Individual Liberty v. Public Interest: A Case of COVID-19

Abstract

Human community witnessed many outbreaks of infectious disease from very ancient period. Indian society is also not spared by the nature in this regard. These diseases posed great threats not only to the public health security of the nations but also significantly disrupted the economic and commercial activities of the State. The power exercised by the state in protecting public health during health emergency is limited by the individual right to liberty, right to food, right to privacy, right against discrimination etc. Therefore, a fine balance may be drawn between the individual liberty and the power state to maintain public health.