5JUDGE BENCH TO HEAR IF AADHAAR FLOUTS PRIVACY

Chief Justice of India (CJI) JS Khehar agreed on Wednesday to set up a Constitution Bench comprising of five judges to decide if the Aadhaar scheme breached one’s right to privacy. The bench will sit on two days - July 18 and 19 - to determine if a larger bench of nine judges needs to hear petitions challenging the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s move to make Aadhaar mandatory for those who want to avail social welfare schemes. The decision to constitute the bench came after Centre’s Attorney General KK Venugopal and petitioner’s lawyer senior advocate Shyam Divan mentioned the matter before the CJI.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) JS Khehar agreed on Wednesday to set up a Constitution Bench comprising of five judges to decide if the Aadhaar scheme breached one’s right to privacy.

The bench will sit on two days - July 18 and 19 - to determine if a larger bench of nine judges needs to hear petitions challenging the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s move to make Aadhaar mandatory for those who want to avail social welfare schemes.

The decision to constitute the bench came after Centre’s Attorney General KK Venugopal and petitioner’s lawyer senior advocate Shyam Divan mentioned the matter before the CJI.

The two made the request as was advised to them by a threejudge bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar.

As the matter remains pending in court, the NDA government has gradually made Aadhaar compulsory for various services such as banking and applying for PAN cards.

This has led to a spurt in filing of applications, prompting the counsel to seek early hearing of the main matter.

Venugopal told the CJI that it would be in public interest to hear and dispose the petitions early.

The government’s ambitious Aadhaar scheme is being challenged on the ground that the biometric details taken from individuals violated their right to privacy.

A vacation bench had on June 27 refused to pass an interim order against the Centre’s notification making Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of social welfare schemes after the government assured no one would be deprived of their due for want of this identification.