Notice to Centre on Aadhaar ordinance

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 5

The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Centre and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on a PIL challenging the validity of the 2019 Aadhaar ordinance.

A Bench headed by Justice SA Bobde asked the Centre and UIDAI to respond to the petition filed by retired Army officer SG Vombatkere and activist Bezwada Wilson against Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, and Aadhaar (Pricing of Aadhaar Authentication Services) Regulations, 2019, which was notified in March.

The petitioners alleged the Ordinance and the regulations violated the fundamental rights of citizens guaranteed under the Constitution and went against the SC verdict on the issue.

A five-judge Constitution Bench had in September last year declared the Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid, but struck down some of its provisions, including its linking with bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions.

The petitioners alleged that through the 2019 regulations, the UIDAI expressly seeks to commercialise and gain financially through the large-scale collection of citizen’s private data and the use of Aadhaar database by private entities. Permitting commercialisation of citizens’ data violated their right to human dignity guaranteed under the Constitution.

The petitioners said private entities having access to Aadhaar database were under a public duty to ensure that Aadhaar numbers and connected data were not stored by them.

Petitioners’ contention

Through the 2019 regulations, the UIDAI expressly seeks to commercialise and gain financially through the large-scale collection of citizen’s private data and the use of Aadhaar database by private entities