Govt insists there is SC order to link mobile numbers with Aadhaar

NEW DELHI: A day after the Supreme Court questioned the Department of Telecommunications for using its directives as an excuse for linking of all mobile phone numbers with Aadhaar, the Government on Thursday asserted that such orders were actually issued by the court.

The Constitution Bench is hearing petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar Act and around 40 govt notifications on the issue.

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 26

A day after the Supreme Court questioned the Department of Telecommunications for using its directives as an excuse for linking of all mobile phone numbers with Aadhaar, the Government on Thursday asserted that such orders were actually issued by the court.

"There are at least two Supreme Court orders and one of them is by Hon'ble Justice (DY) Chandrachud," Attorney General KK Venugopal told a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

Venugopal's submission came around 4 pm when the Bench, just before rising for the day, asked as to how much time he needed to conclude his submission.

"I would need at least three hoursAnd I am going to contest the point regarding linking of mobile phone numbers with AadhaarThere are court orders...," the Attorney General told the Bench which is hearing petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar Act and around 40 government notifications on the issue.

On Wednesday, the Bench - also including justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan -- had clarified that it had only said verification of mobile phone users should be done in the interest of national security.

"In fact there was no such direction from the Supreme Court, but you took it and used it as a tool to make Aadhaar mandatory for mobile users," Justice Chandrachud had told senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

"DoT notification says that Aadhaar-SIM (subscriber identity module) linking is being done on the directions of the Supreme Court, whereas there is no such direction," Justice Chandrachud had said.

Earlier, senior counsel NK Kaul - representing some private companies - tried to impress upon the Bench that private entities should be allowed to use the 12-digit unique identification number as a tool for identification. Even the Aadhaar Act permitted its use by private companies, he added.

Kaul said he was not against further checks and balances being introduced to check its possible misuse but private companies should not be barred from using Aadhaar as an identification tool.

The Bench said it would further hear the matter on next Wednesday.