Aadhaar case: Centre’s statement on those without IDs ‘gross exaggeration’, petitioner tells SC

Divan argued that Aadhaar is being made mandatory for every citizen, when the government only needs to use it to authenticate identity to disburse voluntary subsidies, benefits and services. He argued that there is no penalty against non-enrolment in Aadhaar Act. No coercion is a strong indication that it is not mandatory but only voluntary. As an example, Divan read the following phrase from the Act: “Every resident shall be entitled…”, and said the term ‘entitled’ does not reflect compulsion. “Aadhaar website as of this morning also has a number of resources advertising and stating that Aadhaar enrolment is purely voluntary. A-G’s representation therefore, that Aadhaar is mandatory, is contrary to the representations of UIDAI at a number of places.”

“This is a serious case. It involves one seventh of humanity,” Divan told the court. “When the coercive power of the State is used, there must be consequent protection.” The petitioners also argued that Parliament has ‘simply ignored’ the court’s multiple rulings making Aadhaar voluntary. “If the AG makes an undertaking in court, in which civilised society does Parliament simply ignore that?” they asked, referring to the apex court’s earlier orders saying Aadhaar was voluntary and that the government has to advertise the same.

Read: Centre defends Aadhaar in SC, says it’s mandatory to avoid fake PAN cards

The Union of India had argued on Tuesday that the government has not found a single case of duplicity among the 113.7 crore Aadhaar cards it has issued till date. In response, Divan said that there are already over 1,69,000 duplicate Aadhaar cards in the country.

Divan countered the Centre’s argument that some citizens do not possess identities in the country, saying only 0.03 per cent of the people were found to be without ID. He called the Centre’s statement a ‘gross exaggeration’.

The Centre had on Tuesday defended its decision to make unique identification mandatory, saying it would curb the use of multiple fake PAN cards across the country. It added that it is ‘entitled’ to have identification, and that people cannot claim immunity from it.

On privacy and the collection of biometric data, the Centre had said, “Biometric is classified as sensitive public information. You might want to be forgotten, but the state does not want to forget you. Biometric will not to be shared, unless per procedures laid down under the law. Authorities shall ensure security, confidentiality of data.”