Aadhaar data: SC seeks govt. reply to plea

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  • Bench of CJI S.A. Bobde & Justice B.R. Gavai of SC on 22 Nov asked the Union government & Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to respond to a petition alleging that recent amendments to Aadhaar law opened a back door to private players to access citizens’ personal data.
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  • The Petition enquired:
(1) Legality of Aadhaar and Other Laws(Amendment)Act, 2019 & the Aadhaar(Pricing of Aadhaar Authentication Services) Regulations, 2019.
(2) Act & Regulations manifestly unconstitutional because:
(a) Law and regulations violated the fundamental rights as guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution.
(b) Act creates a backdoor for private parties to access Aadhaar eco­system, enabling citizen surveillance by State & private parties.
(c) Regulations permit commercial exploitation of personal & sensitive information, collected & stored for state purposes only.
  • Petitioners sought to re-legislate certain provisions of Aadhaar(Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits & Services) Act, 2016.
  • Provisions had enabled the commercial exploitation of  information but were declared unconstitutional  in the Justice Puttuswamy case.
Sources
The Hindu
Posted by Jawwad Kazi on 23rd Nov 2019
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