IS AADHAAR USE BY PRIVATE FIRMS LAWFUL, ASKS APEX COURT

NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the use of Aadhaar by private companies, saying that if the 12-digit biometric number was meant for disbursing welfare benefits to the underprivileged, to allow nonstate entities to utilize it for offering services to citizens would be beyond the mandate of the underlying law, the Aadhaar Act .

A constitution bench led by chief justice Dipak Misra made the remarks during the hearing of petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar Act and around 40 government notifications. Other judges on the bench are justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan. The remarks do not constitute a final opinion of the top court in the case.

Justice Chandrachud wondered whether the use of Aadhaar by private companies would be in sync with the objective of the law. “The area of concern is section 57 (of the law),” the judge told Attorney General KK Venugopal, who defended the passage of the Aadhaar law as a Money Bill in 2016.

The government has permitted private entities such as telephone companies and banks to ask for Aadhaar numbers under Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act.

According to Section 57, “Nothing contained in this Act shall prevent the use of Aadhaar number for establishing the identity of an individual for any purpose, whether by the state or anybody corporate or person, pursuant to any law, for the time being in force, or any contract to this effect.” Venugopal said the law provided for targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits and services, the expenditure for which was incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India.

GOVT HAS PERMITTED PHONE COMPANIES, BANKS TO ASK FOR AADHAAR NUMBERS UNDER SECTION 57 OF THE AADHAAR ACT