AADHAAR LAW IS BAD: COUNSEL

Apex court restrains other states from banning Padmaavat, paves way for release of film on January 25, says Censor has formed a opinion, none can restrain it.

Aadhaar law, which affects “right to privacy” and lacked security for protection of data, should be struck down as unconstitutional, argued senior counsel Shyam Divan in the Supreme Court on Thursday. Mr Divan continued his tirade against the Aadhaar programme in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Aadhaar law, which affects ‘right to privacy’ and lacked security for protection of data, should be struck down as unconstitutional, argued senior counsel Shyam Divan in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Continuing his tirade against the Aadhaar programme, Mr Divan told a five-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.K. Sikri, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan that Aadhaar law which related to breach of personal information is an ex-facie violation of an individual’s fundamental right to privacy.

Counsel argued that the Aadhaar programme deprives aggrieved individuals of the knowledge required to exercise control over their information. Pointing out that there is no accountability on the agency collecting the biometric data, he contended that the handling of sensitive personal data by the UIDAI is therefore manifestly arbitrary and opaque.

Further, he said it couldn’t be denied that there have been multiple data breaches from several governmental portals resulting in unfettered, unauthorised access to individuals’ Aadhaar numbers. He said reports by privacy and security researchers indicated that such breaches have already affected 135 million Indians.