Election reforms Bill adheres to Constitution & SC rulings

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 21

As Parliament on Monday passed the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, seeking to link electoral rolls with the Aadhaar ecosystem to weed out duplication of voters, Opposition parties opposed it on the ground that it went against the right to privacy — declared a fundamental right by the SC.

Referring to the Supreme Court Constitution Bench verdict on the right to privacy in Puttaswamy versus Union of India, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said it “limited the use of Aadhaar solely to welfare programmes and to link with PAN for the purposes of Income Tax”.

Notwithstanding the criticism from certain Opposition parties, the Bill may not fall foul of constitutional provisions and the SC’s verdicts.

First, the Bill makes it clear that “no application for inclusion of name in the electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in the electoral roll shall be deleted for the inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar number due to such sufficient cause as may be prescribed”.

Second, it allows individuals to furnish “such other alternate documents as may be prescribed”.

Third, a combined analysis of Supreme Court’s verdicts in the Puttaswamy case and on the issue of linking Aadhaar with PAN for filing of I-T returns makes it clear that right to privacy isn’t absolute.

A nine-judge Constitution Bench, which on August 24, 2017, had declared the right to privacy a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution, had clarified that the right to privacy was not absolute and any encroachment would have to withstand the touchstone of permissible restrictions.

Fourth, the top court has already upheld the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with PAN for filing of income tax returns. In this case of linking electoral rolls with the Aadhaar ecosystem, it’s not mandatory.