SC pulls up govt over Aadhaar for homeless

Asks how Centre plans to issue cards to such people

The Supreme Court pulled up the Centre on its insistence on Aadhaar card from homeless persons across the country seeking asylum in night shelter homes during the current winter.

A bench of Justices Madan Lokur and Deepak Gupta asked additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta as to how the Centre intends to issue the Aadhaar card for lakhs of homeless persons in the country in the absence of a residential identity. The court also wondered how such persons could be given any national identity at all when they do not have any individual proof of residence.

Justice Lokur asked the ASG, “How can a homeless person have an Aadhaar card. So far as the Union of the India is concerned, these homeless persons do not exist?”

Mr Mehta said since Aadhaar card enrolment was not the issue before the present bench, he would prefer not to address the query. The bench then asked advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, for his views on the issue to which the counsel said the government claims to have issued 90 crore Aadhaar cards, but certainly has not bothered to give the homeless any such identity.

The bench agreed with Mr Bhushan’s suggestion and said not only Aadhaar cards, but the homeless do not have even other national identity like voter ID cards. The bench also expressed dismay at the progress of the construction of night shelters across the country despite a number of earlier directions by the court.

The court later directed that all states and UTs shall have a three- member coordination committee, each headed by the principal secretary ( urban development), to periodically monitor the construction and maintenance of the night shelters.