11 states get SC notice on PIL against Aadhaar validity

The Bench had by an interim order in September restricted all authorities from denying a benefit or service to any citizen of India for want of the Aadhaar card. It had also directed that no illegal immigrant should be issued the card while observing that it may be linked with certain advantages meant for residents of the country.

This order compelled the government,some oil PSUs and UIDAI to rush to the court in defence of the validity of Aadhaar while also pleading for modification of the interim order. The court however asked them to finally argue the matter.

Challenging constitutional validity of the Aadhaar card,senior counsel Shyam Divan,appearing for petitioner Justice K S Puttaswamy,a retired judge of the Karnataka High Court,raised doubts over the collection of personal data by the government and argued that it violated the citizen’s fundamental right to privacy. He also said no consent was taken from an applicant before his finger prints or iris records are taken.

The Bench however asked Divan to argue the matter keeping in mind the hard realities. “The harsh reality in this country is that food and water are more important than right to privacy. Will people talk of privacy when they are fighting for Re 1 of 2 over a kg of rice? What is their priority? You talk about consent in a country where more than 68 per cent of girls are married under the age of 18,” remarked the Bench.

The Bench further said collecting biometric information as a condition precedent for the issuance of the Aadhaar card would not impact all sections of the society but only a particular section.

“It will not affect everybody similarly. People don’t have sustenance. How does it matter to them? But it doesn’t mean that it would not affect others and we will have to examine it if you claim the charter never mentioned biometric data collection,” it said.

The observations came when Divan was trying to argue that such unique data of any individual in the hands of a private sector enterprise is an “invasion to his privacy and alters relationships between the Union of India and the citizen of India. There is no government security of the collected data. Biometric is an unreliable and untested technology and can be misused commercially”.

The court will take up the matter for further hearing on December 10.