The Dharwad bench of the Karnataka High Court recently ruled that the right to privacy under the Aadhaar Act cannot be waived by marriage. The order was passed on November 10 by a division bench of Justices Sunil Dutt Yadav and Vijaykumar Patil. In this case, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) officials filed an appeal against an earlier 2023 order in which a woman had obtained an order in her favour for the UIDAI details of her husband, including his address. The husband had allegedly been absconding after a family court ruled in her favour regarding maintenance. The officials argued, as per Section 33 of the Aadhaar Act, that there was a right to privacy for UIDAI holders and a court could not issue such an order without hearing the other person as well. The counsel for the woman argued the details could be shared as the identities of both were merged after marriage and that the enforcement of the maintenance order could only be done by proceeding against the husband as he was absconding. The bench observed, “The right to privacy of the Aadhaar number holder preserves the autonomy of the individual’s right to privacy which is conferred primacy and admits of no exception under the statutory scheme”. “The relationship by marriage, which is a union of two partners, does not eclipse the right to privacy which is the right of an individual and the autonomy of such individual’s right stands recognized and protected by the procedure of hearing contemplated under Section 33. The marriage by itself does not do away with the procedural right of hearing conferred under Section 33 of the Aadhaar Act,” added the bench. The bench then remitted the matter back to the previous judge to be heard again with the provision that the husband should be made a respondent in the case.
