GOVT DEFENDS AADHAAR MOVE: RIGHT TO BODY ISN’T ABSOLUTE

The government defended on Tuesday its aggressive promotion of Aadhaar in various schemes and told the Supreme Court that the State could regulate one’s right to his or her body.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi trashed criticism to the amendment brought in the Income Tax law that makes Aadhaar mandatory for filing IT returns. The contention that people had a right not to have a bodily intrusion was “bogus,” the top law officer submitted before a bench headed by Justice AK Sikri.

“Right not to have a bodily intrusion is not an absolute right. It is taken away in a criminal case. In extreme cases your life can be taken away. You may say you have some rights, but your life can be extinguished,” Rohatgi argued, to which the bench pointed out: “Only by due process of law.”

“No individual right is absolute. Your right to body is not absolute. State can execute you by due process of law. There are a body of laws and you have to comply,” Rohatgi said, referring to laws that make attempt to suicide an offence and fixes a timeframe to terminate pregnancy.

The AG was responding to petitioners who have challenged the insertion of Section 133AA, making Aadhaar necessary for IT returns and linking it to the Permanent Account Number (PAN) details.

No new PAN cards would be issued without production of Aadhaar details and the existing ones will become invalid after July 1, 2017, in the absence of their linkage.

An Aadhaar card, containing a 12-digit identification number, is issued to individuals after collecting their biometric data such as retina scan and fingerprints, making them virtually tamperproof.

The government has also made Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of social welfare schemes but recent massive leaks of citizens details — including mobile numbers and bank details — have raised privacy concerns.

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