Supreme Court Upholds Constitutional Validity Of Aadhaar

A five-judge bench, by a 4:1 majority, ruled in favor of the Narendra Modi government’s ambitious unique identity scheme

In yet another landmark ruling, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court headed by Honorable Chief Justice Dipak Misra and comprising Justice A.K. Sikri, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, Justice A. Bhushan and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud on Wednesday, 26 September, 2018, upheld, by a 4:1 majority, the constitutional validity of the Centre’s AADHAAR scheme, while scrapping provisions of the AADHAAR ACT seen as violating individual privacy and enabling surveillance by the state.

Significantly, the national security exception under Section 33 was struck down, implying that AADHAAR holders’ data cannot be disclosed even on grounds of national security.“The Constitution does not permit the establishment of an authority, that, in turn, through an invasive program, can chain every Indian citizen/resident to a central data bank and maintain lifelong records and logs of that individual,” the bench held.

Section 47, which deprived citizens of the right to file a FIR against anyone illegally using their AADHAAR number and violating their privacy, was scrapped. So also Section 57, which permitted private entities to use AADHAAR for purposes of verification. The bench directed the government not to issue AADHAAR to illegal migrants to prevent them from deriving the benefits of social welfare schemes. Declaring that AADHAAR would not be mandatory for bank accounts, mobile connections, school admissions, and examinations conducted by the CBSE, NEET and UGC, the apex court made it clear that AADHAAR would have to be linked with PAN or Permanent Account Number, which is mandatory for the filing of Income Tax Return (ITR).

By ensuring targeted delivery to the poor and deprived through digital identification, AADHAAR not only provides them with a nationally recognized identity, but also attempts to ensure the delivery of benefits, services and subsidies with the aid of the public exchequer, the bench said.