Supreme Court slaps limits on Aadhaar

INDIA’S BIOMETRIC IDENTITY SYSTEM CONSTITUTIONALLY VALID

In response to multiple petitions raising issues of violation of privacy, the Supreme Court yesterday declared the Indian government’s flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid but read down multiple sections of the Aadhaar Act.

In a historic and longawaited judgment, the court said while Aadhaar was constitutionally valid, it was not mandatory for all services.

The top court struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act which allows private entities to demand Aadhaar to access services.

“Bank accounts and mobile numbers need not be linked with Aadhaar. Also education cannot be denied to any student in the event of no Aadhaar. All social schemes provided in schools too cannot be denied to any child on the basis of no Aadhaar,” the court ruled.

The judgment, however, kept the provision of Aadhaar mandatory for filing of Income Tax (IT) returns and allotment of Permanent Account Numbers (PAN).

India’s Supreme Court yesterday upheld the validity of a giant and controversial government programme to collect and store the biometric data of its billion-plus citizens, but placed new limits on how the data can be used and stored.

A five-judge bench ruled that while the government’s flagship Aadhaar programme had huge benefits in delivering welfare efficiently, biometric data can no longer be used by private entities such as banks or mobile phone operators for authentication purposes.

“Aadhaar empowers the marginalised section of the society and gives them an identity,” said Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri delivering the 1,448-page verdict.

Aadhaar — meaning foundation in Hindi — provides each citizen with a unique 12-digit number, linked to their iris scans and fingerprints.

Started under the previous administration and expanded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Aadhaar programme was hailed by the government as a tool to bring India into the digital age, and help restructure its tax and welfare system as part of the “Digital India” programme.

Morphed into necessity

The original idea for the government was to be able to easily identify people fraudulently claiming government benefits, like food or fuel rations.

But over the years, it has morphed from a welfare delivery tool to a near-necessity for everyday life in India. Citizens have been asked for their Aadhaar cards to access a host of government and private services including new bank accounts, school enrolment, booking flight tickets.

The Supreme Court’s order will restrict the programme’s usage to government services only — Aadhaar will be necessary for collecting food rations, or fuel subsidies, but no longer for opening a bank account or getting a new mobile SIM card.

Children, upon reaching adulthood, can now opt out of the programme, should they no longer need welfare services from the state, the court said.

“The majority has upheld the goal of Aadhaar and said that it pursues a legitimate state aim,” said Zoheb Hossain, a government lawyer, adding that the state could still pass legislation to allow private organisations to use Aadhaar.

Prasanna S., a lawyer representing petitioners, said the court had delivered a “body blow” to the “vision of the Aadhaar project as a universal and ubiquitous

ID” and the order “effectively makes Aadhaar voluntary, not mandatory.”

Over the past decade, more than a billion citizens were enrolled in the government’s database. But the programme’s flaws were evident. Critics argue that some of India’s neediest were denied their food rations and other

welfare entitlements because of authentication errors or Internet connectivity problems. Media outlets and online activists also reported vulnerabilities in the technology — a report by the Centre for Internet and Society said that government websites may have accidentally leaked details of 135 million citizens.

Aadhaar empowers the marginalised section of the society and gives them an identity.” —Arjan Kumar Sikri Supreme Court Justice This is a fabulous judgment. It takes care of citizens’ rights and it ensures we don’t have a surveillance state in place, it ensures that our privacy is not intruded into, and at the same time, it protects the rights of the marginalised.”

—Kapil Sibal,

Congress party member

In 2012, a retired high court judge filed the first petition against the programme to the Supreme Court saying that Aadhaar had no statutory basis and violated the right to privacy.

K. Puttaswamy, now 92, was worried the programme could be abused by illegal immigrants, who might have used their biometric ID cards to claim citizenship.

As the government’s programme expanded, the retired judge’s original petition swelled into a movement centred around privacy, security, and denials of welfare entitlements due to authentication problems.

Government has every intention to go by this judgement. It has set a law which will be followed. There are some prohibited areas where we cannot go. But wherever there are permitted areas, the government will explore its options.”

—Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister

1.2b

number of people using the Aadhaar card

1,448

number of pages in Supreme Court verdict

7,000

servers on which Aadhaar data is kept in Bengaluru and Manesar, Gurgaon