AADHAAR MUST OR NOT: SC TO DECIDE TODAY

The Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict on Wednesday on a bunch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar law on the ground that it violated human rights and right to privacy in every possible way.

The Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict on Wednesday on a bunch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar law on the ground that it violated human rights and right to privacy in every possible way and subjected the citizens to continued surveillance.

A Constitution Bench comprising the Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.K. Sikri, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan had reserved verdict on May 10. It was argued that Aadhaar law ex-facie violated individual’s fundamental right to privacy. The overall impact of Aadhaar law, which affects ‘right to privacy’ and lacked security for protection of data, violated every aspect of human rights guaranteed to citizens under the Constitution.

It was submitted that government’s insistence on “seeding” Aadhaar numbers viz. the practice of incorporating the Aadhaar number into several databases, furthers the risk of identity theft as mere possession of the Aadhaar number can then enable an identity thief to access a host of other information linked to one’s Aadhaar number but stored in different databases.

It was pointed out that the Aadhaar Act treats weaker and vulnerable sections of society as second-class citizens because they receive benefits and subsidy from the government. Those who did not receive benefits are forced to obtain Aadhaar as it is linked to various other laws. It affects bodily integrity, personal autonomy and has the inherent defect of compelling every one to have an Aadhaar.

The overall impact of Aadhaar law, which affects ‘right to privacy’ and lacked security for protection of data, violated every aspect of human rights guaranteed to citizens.