No HC relief to man who failed to give Aadhaar details for college readmission

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has refused relief to a city resident who insisted on not getting an Aadhaar card for himself and his son, for college admissions.

The court initially suggested the petitioner should get enrolled for the Aadhaar and in the meanwhile, it would ask college authorities to keep a seat vacant for his son. But the petitioner refused to do so citing a 2015 Supreme Court order, which said the Aadhaar can only be a voluntary decision.

The HC bench of justice BR Gavai and justice Riyaz Chagla, however, said the petitioner was being adamant merely for the sake of argument. “We fail to understand the instance of not obtaining the Aadhaar card. It appears the petitioner is adamant and wants to take a stand only for the purpose of adamancy. We are therefore not inclined to grant interim relief,” the bench said.

The man, in his plea filed through senior counsel Mihir Desai and advocate Swaraj Jadhav, said his 17-year-old son completed Class 11 from St Xaviers College. Although he had secured the requisite marks for readmission to Class 12, the college refused it as he and his parents could not give them the details.

When the petitioner cited the SC order to the college authorities, they pointed to an April 2015 Maharashtra government resolution making Aadhaar mandatory for college admissions.