Aadhaar social hub: SC asks A- G to respond

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked attorneygeneral K. K. Venugopal to file a response to a PIL challenging the alleged move by Aadhaar authorities to engage the services of a private agency to monitor activities of citizens on the social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, GooglePlus etc.

The petition filed by Trinamool Congress MLA from Bengal Mahua Moitra has urged the court to quash the impugned “Request for Proposal” issued on July 18, as being violative of Articles 14 ( equality), 19( 1)( a)( freedom of speech) and 21( life, liberty and privacy) of the Constitution.

Senior advocate Abhishekh Manu Singhvi, appearing for the petitioner, told a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, A. M. Khanwilkar and D. Y. Chandrachud that the matter was serious as the issue involved the fundamental right of privacy, which is sought to be infringed upon by the Unique Identification Development Authority of India ( UIDAI). He submitted a brief note giving suggestions to allay the apprehensions and fears and wanted the government to respond.

The AG told the bench, “I am willing to put in an affidavit accommodating the suggestions given by the petitioner.” Taking on record AG’s submissions, the bench directed the matter to be listed next week.

According to the petition the RFP issued by the UIDAI proposes to appoint a private agency to act as Social Media Agency for the Aadhaar authorities and assign the proposed agency the task of employing a “Social Listening Tool”.