House panel wants fresh look at Aadhaar issue

The panel has decided to call Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba in the next meeting. (Representational image)

The Supreme Court’s ruling upholding right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Constitution came up for discussion on Monday in a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee of Home Affairs chaired by former Home Minister P Chidambaram, which is discussing the issue of national security and privacy concerns related to Aadhaar. In the earlier meeting on July 21, the panel was told by Home Ministry officials that the Aadhaar database is not under their control.

When the panel met Monday, Chidambaram said that with the apex court’s ruling, the security of Aadhaar data is something in which the Home Ministry will have a role and hence the whole issue now needs to be examined again. Most members in the panel concurred. The panel has decided to call Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba in the next meeting.

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The panel is examining the issue at a time concerns have been raised about privacy issues and security of Aadhaar data. In the half-an-hour long meeting, the panel members also raised questions about two Aadhaar data theft cases, the sources said.